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SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

OF WILLIAM Mckinley 



SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 
OF WILLIAM McKINLEY 



FROM MARCH 1, 1897 
TO MAY 30, 1900 



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NEW YORK 
DOUBLEDAY & McCLURE CO. 

1900 






Copyright, 1900, by 

DOUBLEDAY & McClUEE CO. 



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The DeVinne Press. 



PUBLISHERS' NOTE. 

THE enthusiasm with which President Mc- 
Kinley's speeches and addresses have been 
received in every part of the Union has suggested 
their permanent publication; and into this vol- 
ume have been gathered all those that he de- 
livered from the time he left his home in Canton, 
Ohio, to enter upon the duties of the Presidency, 
to his speech at Antietam battle-field, Maryland, 
May 30, 1900. They are published as they were 
spoken, most of them from stenographic reports. 
They are put in this volume in chronological order, 
because an arrangement by topics would break the 
sequence more violently than an arrangement by 
time. 

Included in the collection are the President's 
Inaugural Address and all the speeches delivered 
by him on his several visits to New York, to New 
England, to the Middle and Western States, and to 
the Southern States. In them he discusses a wide 
range of subjects— a wider range than it has fallen 
to any other President to discuss since Lincoln : 
some are memorial addresses ; in others he takes 



vi PUBLISHERS' NOTE. 

up commercial and financial topics of the widest 
importance ; and in others the war with Spain and 
the new and momentous problems that have grown 
out of it. The contents of this volume include, 
in fact, what President McKinley has spoken in 
every section of the country on all the impor- 
tant subjects that have come forward during his 
administration. The literary quality of these 
speeches, as well as their intrinsic merit, warrant 
their, preservation in the convenient form of a 
volume that may have a wide circulation. 

The portrait that appears as the frontispiece is 
a reproduction of a steel engraving that was made 
in 1898 at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, 
"Washington, and is regarded as one of the best 
likenesses of President McKinley that have ever 
been made. 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Speech on Departure from Canton, Ohio, March 1, 1897 1 

Inaugural Address 2 

Address at Dedication of Grant Monument, New York, 
April 27, 1897 16 

At Unveiling of Washington Statue, Philadelphia, May 

15, 1897 19 

Remarks to American Medical Association, Philadelphia, 

Jime 2, 1897 22 

At School of Industrial Art, Philadelphia, June 2, 1897 23 

Addi'ess at National Opening of Philadelphia Museums, 
June 2, 1897 23 

Speech at Banquet of Philadelphia Museums and Manu- 
facturers' Club, June 2, 1897 27 

Address at Tennessee Centennial Exposition, Nashville, 
June 11, 1897 30 

Speech to Vennont Fish and Game League, Isle La 

Motte, Vermont, August 6, 1897 35 

Remarks at Proctor, Vermont, August 12, 1897 . . 36 
Speech at Syracuse, New York, August 24, 1897 . . 36 
Remarks from Balcony of Hotel, Buffalo, New York, 

August 24, 1897 37 

Speech at Banquet of Ellicott Club, Buffalo, August 24, 
1897 38 

At G. A. R. Camp-Fire, Asbury Church, Buffalo, Au- 
gust 24, 1897 40 

vii 



viii CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Speech at G. A. R. Camp-Fire, Delaware Avenue M. E. 
Churcli, Buffalo, August 24, 1897 . . . .41 

At Reunion of Twenty-third Ohio Regiment, Fremont, 

Ohio, September 2, 1897 42 

At State Fair, Columbus, Ohio, September 3, 1897 . 44 

At Akron, Ohio, September 4, 1897 . . . .46 

Remarks at Canton, Ohio, September 4, 1897 . . .46 

To Lincoln Club, Somerset, Pennsylvania, September 

9,1897 47 

At Reception of R. P. Cummins Post, G. A. R., Somer- 
set, Pennsylvania, September 10, 1897 . . .48 
Speech at Hoosac Valley Agricultural Society Fair, North 

Adams, Massachusetts, September 22, 1897 . . .48 
Remarks at Pittsfleld, Massachusetts, September 24, 1897 49 
Speech at Adams, Massachusetts, October 1, 1897 . . 50 
Remarks in Chamber of Commerce, Cincinnati, October 

29, 1897 51 

Speech at Dinner of Commercial Club, Cincinnati, Octo- 
ber 30, 1897 52 

To Commercial Travelers' Association and Employees 
of Dueber Heights, Canton, Ohio, November 1, 1897 55 
Address at Carnegie Library, Pittsburg, November 3, 

1897 56 

Speech at Banquet of National Association of Manufac- 
turers of the United States, New York, January 27, 1898 60 
Address to Officers and Students of University of Penn- 
sylvania, Philadelphia, February 22, 1898 . . .07 

Address of the Powers in Regard to Existing Differences 
with Spain, Executive Mansion, Washington, April 6, 

1898 78 

Reply of the President 79 

Speech at Camp Wikoff, Montauk Point, New York, 
September 3, 1898, with Introductory Remarks by 
Major-General Wheeler 80,81 



CONTENTS. 



LX 



Remarks to Commission Appointed to Investigate Ad- 
ministration of War Department, September 26, 1898 

At De Kalb, Illinois, October 11, 1898 
Speech at Clinton, Iowa, October 11, 1898 
Remarks at Dewitt, Iowa, October 11, 1898 
Speech at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, October 11, 1898 

At BeUe Plaine, Iowa, October 11, 1898 

At Tama, Iowa, October 11, 1898 . 

At Marshalltown, Iowa, October 11, 1898 . 

At Ames, Iowa, October 11, 1898 . 

At Boone, Iowa, October 11, 1898 

At Carroll, Iowa, October 11, 1898 

At Denison, Iowa, October 11, 1898 
Remarks at Logan, Iowa, October 11, 1898 
Speech at Missouri VaUey, Iowa, October 11, 1898 
Address at Trans-Mississippi and International Exposi- 
tion, Omaha, October 12, 1898 
Remarks on Leaving Omaha, October 13, 1898 . 
Speech at Council Bluffs, Iowa, October 13, 1898 

At Glenwood, Iowa, October 13, 1898 . 

At Malvern, Iowa, October 13, 1898 
Remarks at Hastings, Iowa, October 13, 1898 . 
Speech at Red Oak, Iowa, October 13, 1898 

At Coming, Iowa, October 13, 1898 

At Creston, Iowa, October 13, 1898 
Remarks at Osceola, Iowa, October 13, 1898 
Speech at Chariton, Iowa, October 13, 1898 

At Ottumwa, Iowa, October 13, 1898 . 

At Monmouth, Illinois, October 13, 1898 

At Galesburg, Illinois, October 13, 1898 

At Merchants' Exchange, St. Louis, October 14, 1898 

In Cohseum, St. Louis, October 14, 1898 



PAGE 

83 
84 
85 
86 
86 
89 
90 
91 
92 
94 
96 
97 
99 
99 

100 
106 
106 
107 
108 
109 
109 
110 
111 
112 
113 
114 
115 
116 
117 
119 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Speech at Terre Haute, Indiana, October 15, 1898 . . 122 
At Paris, Illinois, October 15, 1898 . . . .123 
At Areola, Illinois, October 15, 1898 . . . .124 
At Decatur, lUiuois, October 15, 1898 . . . .125 
At Springfield, lUinois, October 15, 1898 . . .126 
At CHnton, lUinois, October 15, 1898 . . . .128 
At GUman, lUinois, October 15, 1898 . . . . 129 
At Kankakee, lUinois, October 15, 1898 . . .130 
At the Auditorium, Chicago, October 18, 1898 . . 131 

Remarks in Front of Union League Club, Chicago, Octo- 
ber 19, 1898 132 

Speech at Banquet, Auditorium, Chicago, October 19, 1898 133 
At First Regiment Armory, Chicago, before AUied Or- 
ganizations of Railroad Employees, October 20, 1898 136 

Remarks to Committee on International Arbitration, 
Chicago, October 20, 1898 138 

Speech at Logansport, Indiana, October 21, 1898 . . 139 
At Kokomo, Indiana, October 21, 1898 . . . 140 
At Tipton, Indiana, October 21, 1898 . . . .141 
At Atlanta, Indiana, October 21, 1898 .... 142 
At Noblesville, Indiana, October 21, 1898 . . .143 
At» Indianapolis, Indiana, October 21, 1898 . . . 144 
At RushvUle, Indiana, October 21, 1898 . . .146 
At ConnersvUle, Indiana, October 21, 1898 . . . 147 

Remarks at College Corner, Indiana, October 21, 1898 . 148 

Speech at Oxford, Ohio, October 21, 1898 . . .148 

At Hamilton, Ohio, October 21, 1898 . . . .149 

Remarks at Wilmington, Ohio, October 21, 1898 . . 150 
At Washington Court-House, Ohio, October 21, 1898 150 
Speech at Columbus, Ohio, October 21, 1898 . . 151 
Remarks at Newark, Ohio, October 21, 1898 . . 154 
At Banquet, Union League, PhUadelphia, October 26, 
1898 .154 



CONTENTS. xi 

PAGE 

Speech at Banquet of Clover Club, Philadelphia, October 
27, 1898 155 

Remarks to First District of Columbia Regiment, at Con- 
vention Hall, Washington, November 17, 1898 . . 157 

Speech before Legislature in Joint Assembly, State Capi- 
tol, Atlanta, Georgia, December 14, 1898 . . . 158 

At Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia, December 15, 1898 159 

At Banquet, Atlanta, Georgia, December 15, 1898 . 164 

At Tuskegee, Alabama, December 16, 1898 . . . 166 

To General Assembly and Citizens in State Capitol, 
Montgomery, Alabama, December 16, 1898 . . 170 

At Banquet of Board of Trade and Associated Citizens, 
De Soto Hotel, Savannah, Georgia, December 17, 1898 172 

At Georgia Agricultural and Mechanical College, 
Savannah, Georgia, December 18, 1898 . . . 176 

At Macon, Georgia, December 19, 1898 . . . 178 
Remarks at MiUedgeviUe, Georgia, December 19, 1898 . 180 
Speech at Augusta, Georgia, December 19, 1898 . . 181 

At Columbia, South Carolina, December 19, 1898 . 183 

Remarks at New Loudon, Connecticut, February 16, 1899 184 

Speech at Home Market Club Dinner, Boston, February 
16,1899 185 

At G. A. R. Encampment, Boston, February 17, 1899 . 193 
To the General Court, Boston, February 17, 1899 . 195 
At Commercial Club Reception, Boston, February 17, 
1899 197 

Remarks at Union League Dinner, Philadelphia, April 27, 
1899 200 

Speech at Academy of Music, Philadelphia, April 27, 1899 201 

Remarks on board the U. S. S. Raleigh, Philadelphia, 
April 28, 1899 203 

Speech at Harrisonburg, Virginia, May 20, 1899 . . 204 



Xll 



CONTEXTS. 



PAGE 



Speech at Mount Holyoke College, Soutli Hadley, 

Massachusetts, June 20, 1899 205 

At Springfield, Massachusetts, June 21, 1899 . . 206 
At Reception of Grand Army Post, Adams, Massachu- 
setts, June 24, 1899 207 

At Adams, Massachusetts, June 26, 1899 . . . 208 

At Catholic Summer School, Cliff Haven, New York, 
August 15, 1899 209 

At Ocean Grove, New Jersey, August 25, 1899 . . 210 
Address before Tenth Pennsylvania Regiment, U. S. V. , 

Pittsbui-g, August 28, 1899 211 

Speech at East Liverpool, Ohio, August 28, 1899 . . 218 

At East Liverpool, Ohio, August 29, 1899 . . .219 

Remarks at Canton, Ohio, August 30, 1899 . . . 220 

Speech at Canton, Ohio, Avigust 30, 1899 . . .221 

At G. A. R. Encampment, Philadelphia, September 5, 

1899 222 

At Banquet of Meade, Lafayette, and Kinsley Posts, 
G. A. R., Philadelphia, September 5, 1899 . . 224 
Remarks upon Presentation of a Sword to Admiral 

Dewey, at the Capitol, Washington, October 3, 1899 . 225 

Speech at Quiney, Illinois, October 6, 1899 . . . 226 

Remarks at Macomb, Illinois, October 6, 1899 . . . 227 

At BushneU, Illinois, October 6, 1899 . . . .228 

Speech at Canton, lUinois, October 6, 1899 . . . 229 

At Peoria, Illinois, October 6, 1899 . . . .230 

Remarks at Peoria, Illinois, upon Presentation of an Al- 
bum, October 6, 1899 232 

Address at Galesburg, Illinois, October 7, 1899 . . 232 

Speech at Kewanee, Illinois, October 7, 1899 . . . 236 

At La Salle, Illinois, October 7, 1899 . . . .237 

At Ottawa, THinois, October 7, 1899 . . . .238 

At Joliet, lUinois, October 7, 1899 . . . .239 



CONTENTS. xiii 

PAGE 

Remarks at Children's Exercises, Auditorium, Chicago, 

October 8, 1899 241 

At Quinn Chapel, Chicago, October 8, 1899 . . 241 

At Banquet of Marquette Club, Chicago, October 7, 

1899 . . / 242 

Speech at Citizens' Banquet, Chicago, October 9, 1899 . 243 

At Reunion of the Army of the Tennessee, Chicago, 
October 10, 1899 247 

To Chicago Bricklayers and Stone-Masons' Union, 
Chicago, October 10, 1899 248 

At Banquet of Commercial Club, Chicago, October 
10, 1899 250 

At Fair Grounds, Evansville, Indiana, October 11, 1899 253 

Remarks from Train, Evansville, Indiana, October 11, 1899 255 

Speech at Vincennes, Indiana, October 11, 1899 . . 255 

At Terre Haute, Indiana, October 11, 1899 . . . 256 

At Danville, Hhnois, October 11, 1899 . . .257 

At Hoopestown, Illinois, October 11, 1899 . . . 258 

At Watseka, lUinois, October 11, 1899 . . .260 

Remarks at Red Wing, Minnesota, October 12, 1899 . 261 

Address at Minneapolis, October 12, 1899 . . . 262 

Speech at Auditorium, St. Paul, October 12, 1899 . . 269 

At Superior, Wisconsin, October 13, 1899 . . . 271 

At Duluth, Minnesota, October 13, 1899 . . .272 

Remarks at Aitkin, IMinnesota, October 13, 1899 . . 274 

Speech at Brainerd, Minnesota, October 13, 1899 . . 275 

Remarks at Staples, Minnesota, October 13, 1899 . . 276 

Speech at Wadena, Minnesota, October 13, 1899 . . 277 

Remarks at Detroit City, Minnesota, October 13, 1899 . 278 

Speech at Fargo, North Dakota, October 13, 1899 . . 279 

At Wahpeton, North Dakota, October 13, 1899 . . 282 

At Aberdeen, South Dakota, October 14, 1899 . . 284 



XIV 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Speecli at Redfield, South Dakota, October 14, 1899 . 286 

At Hm-on, South Dakota, October 14, 1899 . . .288 

At Lake Preston, South Dakota, October 14, 1899 . 290 

At Madison, South Dakota, October 14, 1899 . . 291 

At Egan, South Dakota, October 14, 1899 . . .293 

At Sioux Falls, South Dakota, October 14, 1899 . . 294 

At Yankton, South Dakota, October 14, 1899 . . 298 

Remarks at Vermilion, South Dakota, October 14, 1899 . 300 

At Elk Point, South Dakota, October 14, 1899 . . 300 

At Whitfield Methodist Episcopal Sunday-School, 
Sioux City, Iowa, October 15, 1899 . . . .301 

Speech at Iowa FaUs, Iowa, October 16, 1899 . . . 301 
At Ackley, Iowa, October 16, 1899 . . . .302 
At Parkersburg, Iowa, October 16, 1899 . . . 303 
At Cedar Falls, Iowa, October 16, 1899 . . .304 
At Waterloo, Iowa, October 16, 1899 . . . .305 
At Independence, Iowa, October 16, 1899 . . . 307 
At Manchester, Iowa, October 16, 1899 . . .308 
At Dubuque, Iowa, October 16, 1899 .... 310 
At Galena, Illinois, October 16, 1899 . . . .312 
At Ipswich, Wisconsin, October 16, 1899 . . . 313 
At Dodgeville, Wisconsin, October 16, 1899 . . 314 
At Motmt Horeb, Wisconsin, October 16, 1899 . . 316 
At Madison, Wisconsin, October 16, 1899 . . .317 
At Waukesha, Wisconsin, October 16, 1899 . . 321 
At Deutscher Club, MUwaukee, October 16, 1899 . 322 
At Banquet of Merchants and Manufactvirers' Associa- 
tion, Milwaukee, October 16, 1899 . . . .323 
Remarks at Iron Foundries, Milwaukee, October 17, 1899 325 
Speech at Racine, Wisconsin, October 17, 1899 . . 326 
Remarks at Kenosha, Wisconsin, October 17, 1899 . . 328 
Speech at Waukegan, Illinois, October 17, 1899 . . 329 



CONTENTS. 



XV 



PAGE 

Speech at Evanston, Illinois, October 17, 1899 . . 331 

Remarks at Michigan City, Indiana, October 17, 1899 . 332 

At Three Oaks, Michigan, October 17, 1899 . . 333 

At Niles, Michigan, October 17, 1899 . . . .334 

At Battle Creek, Michigan, October 17, 1899 . . 334 

Speech at Jackson, Michigan, October 17, 1899 . . 335 

Remarks at the Hollenden, Cleveland, Ohio, October 18, 

1899 337 

Speech at Warren, Ohio, October 18, 1899 . . .338 
Remarks at Niles, Ohio, October 18, 1899 . . .340 
Speech at Youngstown, Ohio, October 18, 1899 . . 341 
At Public Reception, Youngstown, Ohio, October 18, 

1899 344 

Response to Committee PresentiBg a Peace Petition Urg- 
ing Mediation of United States between Great Britain 
and the Boers, Executive Mansion, October 26, 1899 . 347 
Remarks at Fredericksburg, Virginia, October 31, 1899 . 348 
At Ashland, Virginia, October 31, 1899 . . .348 
At Railroad Station, Richmond, Virginia, October 31, 
1899 349 

Speech at Richmond, Virginia, October 31, 1899 . . 349 

Address at Washington Memorial Services, Mount Ver- 
non, December 14, 1899 355 

Reply to Delegates from National Board of Trade, 
Executive Mansion, January 24, 1900 .... 359 

Speech at Banquet of Loyal Legion, Washington, Febru- 
ary 22, 1900 360 

At Banquet of Ohio Society of New York, New York, 
March 3, 1900 361 

Address at Ecumenical Conference, New York, April 21, 
1900 • . . 366 

Speech at Antietam Battle-field, Maryland, May 30, 
1900 . • 369 



Speech at Canton, Ohio, upon Departure 
FOR Washington, D. C, March 1, 1897. 

My Neighbors and Friends and Fellow-GUizens : 

On the eve of departure to the seat of government, 
soon to assume the duties of an arduous responsibility, 
as great as can devolve upon any man, nothing could 
give me greater pleasure than this farewell greeting— 
this evidence of your friendship and sympathy, your 
good will, and, I am sure, the prayers of all the people 
with whom I have lived so long, and whose confidence 
and esteem are dearer to me than any other earthly 
honors. To all of us the future is as a sealed book; 
but if I can, by official act or administration or utter- 
ance, in any degree add to the prosperity and unity of 
our beloved country and the advancement and well-being 
of our splendid citizenship, I will devote the best and 
most unselfish efforts of my life to that end. [Loud 
and continued applause.] 

The assumption of the chief magistracy is of such 

grave importance that partizanship cannot blind the 

judgment or accept any other consideration than the 

public good of all, of every party and every section. 

1 1 



2 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

With this thought uppermost in my mind, I reluctantly 
take leave of my friends and neighbors, cherishing 
in my heart the sweetest memories and the tenderest 
thoughts of my old home— my home now, and, I trust, 
my home hereafter, so long as I live. [Tremendous 
applause.] I thank you and bid you all good-by. 



II. 



Inaugural Address, Delivered from East Front 
OF THE Capitol, Washington, March 4, 1897. 

Felloiv-Citizens : 

In obedience to the will of the people and in their 
presence, by the authority vested in me by this oath, I 
assume the arduous and responsible duties of President 
of the United States, relying on the support of my 
countrymen and invoking the guidance of Almighty 
God. Oui- faith teaches that there is no safer reliance 
than upon the God of our fathers, who has so singu- 
larly favored the American people in every national 
trial, and who will not forsake us so long as we obey 
his commandments and walk humbly in his footsteps. 

The responsibilities of the high trust to which I have 
been called— always of grave importance— are aug- 
mented by the prevailing business conditions, entailing 
idleness upon willing labor and loss to useful enter- 
prises. The country is suffering from industrial dis- 
turbances from which speedy relief must be had. Our 
financial system needs some revision ; our money is all 
good now, but its value must not f ui-ther be threatened. 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 3 

It should all be put upon an enduring basis, not sub- 
ject to easy attack or its stability to doubt or dispute. 
Our currency should continue under the supervision of 
the government. The several forms of our paper 
money offer, in my judgment, a constant embarrassment 
to the government and to a safe balance in the Treasury. 
Therefore I believe it necessary to devise a system 
which, without diminishing the circulating medium or 
offering a premium for its contraction, will present a 
remedy for those arrangements, which, temporary in 
their nature, might well in the years of our prosperity 
have been displaced by wiser provisions. With ade- 
quate revenue secured, but not until then, we can enter 
upon such changes in our fiscal laws as will, while in- 
suring safety and volume to our money, no longer 
impose upon the government the necessity of maintain- 
ing so large a gold reserve, with its attendant and 
inevitable temptations to speculation. Most of our 
financial laws are the outgrowth of experience and 
trial, and should not be amended without investigation 
and demonstration of the wisdom of the proposed 
changes. We must both "be sure we are right" and 
"make haste slowly." If, therefore. Congress in its 
wisdom shall deem it expedient to create a commission 
to take under early consideration the revision of our 
coinage, banking, and currency laws, and give them 
that exhaustive, careful, and dispassionate examination 
that their importance demands, I shall cordially concur 
in such action. If such power is vested in the Presi- 
dent, it is my purpose to appoint a commission of 
prominent, well-informed citizens of different parties, 
who will command public confidence both on account 
of their ability and special fitness for the work. Busi- 



\ 



4: SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

ness experience and public training may thus be com- 
bined, and the patriotic zeal of the friends of the 
country be so directed that such a report will be made 
as to receive the support of all parties, and our finances 
cease to be the subject of mere partizan contention. 
The experiment is, at aU events, worth a trial, and, in 
my opinion, it can but prove beneficial to the entire 
country. 

The question of international bimetallism will have 
early and earnest attention. It will be my constant 
endeavor to secure it by cooperation with the other 
great commercial powers of the world. Until that 
condition is realized when the parity between our gold 
and silver mone}^ springs from and is supported by the 
relative value of the two metals, the value of the silver 
already coined, and of that which may hereafter be 
coined, must be kept constantly at par with gold by 
every resource at our command. The credit of the 
government, the integrity of its currency, and the in- 
violability of its obligations must be preserved. This 
was the commanding verdict of the people, and it will not 
be unheeded. 

Economy is demanded in every branch of the govern- 
ment at all times, but especially in periods like the 
present, of depression in business and distress among 
the people. The severest economy must be observed 
in all public expenditures, and extravagance stopped 
wherever it is found, and prevented wherever in the 
future it may be developed./ If the revenues are to re- 
main as now, the only relief that can come must be 
from decreased expenditures. But the present must 
not become the permanent condition of the govern- 
ment. It has been our uniform practice to retire, not 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 5 

increase, our outstanding obligations, and this policy 
must again be resumed and vigorously enforced. Our 
revenues should always be large enough to meet with 
ease and promptness not only our current needs, and 
the principal and interest of the public debt, bnt to 
make proper and liberal provision for that most de- 
serving body of pubUe creditors, the soldiers and 
sailors and the widows and orphans who are the pen- 
sioners of the United States. 

The government should not be permitted to run be- 
hind or increase its debt in times like the present. 
Suitably to provide against this is the mandate of duty, 
the certain and easy remedy for most of onr financial 
difficulties. A deficiency is inevitable so long as the 
expenditures of the government exceed its receipts. 
It can only be met by loans or an increased revenue. 
While a large annual surplus of revenue may invite 
waste and extravagance, inadequate revenue creates 
distrust and undermines public and private credit. 
Neither should be encouraged. Between more loans 
and more revenue there ought to be but one opinion. 
We should have more revenue, and that without delay, 
hindrance, or postponement. A surplus in the Trea- 
sury created by loans is not a permanent or safe reli- 
ance. It will suffice while it lasts, but it cannot 
last long while the outlays of the government are 
greater than its receipts, as has been the case during 
the past two years. Nor must it be forgotten that how- 
ever much such loans may temporarily relieve the 
situation, the government is still indebted for the 
amount of the surplus thus accrued, which it must 
ultimately pay, while its ability to pay is not strength- 
ened, but weakened, by a continued deficit. Loans are 



6 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

imperative in great emergencies to preserve the gov- 
ernment or its credit, but a failure to supply needed 
revenue in time of peace for the maintenance of either 
has no justification. 

The best way for the government to maintain its 
credit is to pay as it goes— not by resorting to loans, 
but by keeping out of debt— through an adequate in- 
come secured by a system of taxation, external or 
internal, or both. It is the settled policy of the gov- 
ernment, pursued from the beginning and practised by 
all parties and administrations, to raise the bulk of our 
revenue from taxes upon foreign productions entering 
the United States for sale and consumption, and avoid- 
ing, for the most part, every form of direct taxation, 
except in time of war. The country is clearly opposed 
to any needless additions to the subjects of internal tax- 
ation, and is committed by its latest popular utterance 
to the system of tariff taxation. There can be no mis- 
understanding, either, about the principle upon which 
this tariff taxation shall be levied. Nothing has ever 
been made plainer at a general election than that the 
controlling principle in the raising of revenue from 
duties on imports is zealous care for American interests 
and American labor. The people have declared that 
such legislation should be had as will give ample pro- 
tection and encouragement to the industries and the 
development of our country. It is, therefore, earnestly 
hoped and expected that Congress will, at the earliest 
practicable moment, enact revenue legislation that shall 
be fair, reasonable, conservative, and just, and which, 
while supplying sufficient revenue for public purposes, 
will still be signally beneficial and helpful to every 
section and every enterprise of the people. To this 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 7 

policy, we are all, of whatever party, firmly bound by 
the voice of" the people— a power vastly more potential 
than the expression of any political platform. The 
paramount duty of Congress is to stop deficiencies by 
the restoration of that protective legislation which has 
always been the firmest prop of the Treasury. The 
passage of such a law or laws would strengthen the 
credit of the government both at home and abroad, and 
go far toward stopping the drain upon the gold reserve 
held for the redemption of our currency, which has 
been heavy and well-nigh constant for several years. 

In the revision of the tariff especial attention should 
be a-iven to the reenactment and extension of the re- 
ciprocity principle of the law of 1890, under which so 
great a stimulus was given to our foreign trade in new 
and advantageous markets for our surplus agricultural 
and manufactured products. The brief trial given this 
legislation amply justifies a further experiment and ad- 
ditional discretionary power in the making of commer- 
cial treaties, the end in view always to be the opening 
up of new markets for the products of our country, by 
granting concessions to the products of other lands that 
we need and cannot produce ourselves, and which do 
not involve any loss of labor to our own people, but 
tend "to increase their employment. 

The depression of the past four years has fallen with 
especial severity upon the great body of toilers of the 
country, and upon none more than the holders of small 
farms. Agriculture has languished and labor suft'ered. 
The revival of manufacturing will be a relief to both. 
No portion of our population is more devoted to the in- 
stitutions of free government, nor more loyal in their 
support, while none bears more cheerfully or fully its 



y 



8 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

proper share in the maintenance of the government, or is 
better entitled to its wise and liberal care and protection. 
Legislation helpful to producers is beneficial to all. The 
depressed condition of industry on the farm and in the 
mine and factory has lessened the ability of the people to 
meet the demands upon them ; and they rightfully expect 
that not only a system of revenue shall be established 
that will secure the largest income with the least burden, 
but that every means will be taken to decrease, rather 
than increase, our public expenditures. Business con- 
ditions are not the most promising. It will take time 
to restore the prosperity of former years. If we cannot 
promptly attain it, we can resolutely turn our faces in 
that direction and aid its return by friendly legislation. 
However troublesome the situation may appear, Con- 
gress will not, I am sure, be found lacking in disposi- 
tion or ability to relieve it as far as legislation can do 
so. The restoration of confidence and the revival of 
business, which men of all parties so much desire, de- 
pend more largely upon the prompt, energetic, and in- 
telligent action of Congress than upon any other single 
agency affecting the situation. 

It is inspiring, too, to remember that no great emer- 
gency in the one hundred and eight years of our eventful 
national life has ever arisen that has not been met with 
wisdom and coui-age by the American people, with fidel- 
ity to their best interests and highest destiny, and to 
the honor of the American name. These years of glori- 
ous history have exalted mankind and advanced the 
cause of freedom throughout the world, and immeasu- 
rably strengthened the precious free institutions which 
we enjoy. The people love and will sustain these 
institutions. The great essential to our happiness and 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 9 

prosperity is that we adhere to the principles upon 
which the government was established, and insist upon 
their faithful observance. Equality of rights must pre- 
vail, and our laws be always and everywhere respected 
and obeyed. We may have failed in the discharge of 
our full duty as citizens of the great republic, but it is 
consoling and encouraging to realize that free speech, a 
free press, free thought, free schools, the free and un- 
molested right of religious liberty and worship, and free 
and fair elections are dearer and more universally en- 
joyed to-day than ever before. These guaranties must 
be sacredly preserved and wisely strengthened. The » 
constituted authorities must be cheerfully and vigor- 
ously upheld. Lynchings must not be tolerated in a 
great and civilized country like the United States; 
courts, not mobs, must execute the penalties of the law. 
The preservation of public order, the right of discussion, 
the integrity of courts, and the orderly administration 
of justice must continue forever the rock of safety upon / 
which our government securely rests.^. 

One of the lessons taught by the late election, which 
all can rejoice in, is that the citizens of the United 
States are both law-respecting and law-abiding people, 
not easily swerved from the path of patriotism and 
honor. This is in entire accord with the genius of our 
institutions, and but emphasizes the advantages of in- 
culcating even a gi-eater love for law and order in the 
future. Immunity should be granted to none who vio- 
late the laws, whether individuals, corporations, or com- 
munities; and as the Constitution imposes upon the 
President the duty of both its own execution and of 
the statutes enacted in pursuance of its provisions, I 
shall endeavor carefully to carry them into effect. The 



10 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

declaration of the party now restored to power has been 
in the past that of "opposition to all combinations of 
capital, organized in trusts or otherwise, to control arbi- 
trarily the condition of trade among onr citizens " ; and 
it has supported " such legislation as will prevent the 
execution of all schemes to oppress the people by undue 
charges on their supj)lies or by unjust rates for the 
transportation of their products to market." This pur- 
pose will be steadil}^ pursued, both by the enforcement 
of the laws now in existence and the recommendation 
and support of such new statutes as may be necessary 
to carry it into effect. 

Our naturalization and immigration laws should be 
further improved, to the constant promotion of a safer, 
a better, and a higher citizenship. A grave peril to the 
republic would be a citizenship too ignorant to under- 
stand or too vicious to appreciate the great value and 
beneficence of our institutions and laws, and against all 
who come here to make war upon them our gates must 
\ be promptly and tightly closed. ,' Nor must we be un- 
mindful of the need of improvement among our own 
citizens, but, with the zeal of our forefathers, encourage 
the spread of knowledge and free education. Illiteracy 
must be banished from the land if we shall attain to 
that high destiny as the foremost of the enlightened 
nations of the world which, under Providence, we ought 
to achieve. 
v^ Reforms in the civil service must go on. But the 
changes should be real and genuine, not perfunctory, or 
prompted by a zeal in behalf of any party, simply be- 
cause it happens to be in power. As a member of Con- 
gress I voted and spoke in favor of the present law, 
and I shall attempt its enforcement in the spirit in which 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. ii 

it was enacted. The purpose in view was to secure the 
most efficient service of the best men who would accept 
appointment under the government, retaining faithful 
and devoted public servants in office, but shielding none, 
under the authority of any rule or custom, who are 
inefficient, incompetent, or unworthy. The best inter- 
ests of the country demand this, and the people heartily 
approve the law wherever and whenever it has been 
thus administered. 

Congress should give prompt attention to the restora- 
tion of our American merchant marine, once the pride 
of the seas in all the great ocean highways of commerce. 
To my mind few more important subjects so imperatively 
demand its intelligent consideration. The United 
States has progressed with marvelous rapidity in every 
field of enterprise and endeavor, until we have become 
foremost in nearly all the great lines of inland trade, 
commerce, and industry. Yet, while this is true, our 
American merchant marine has been steadily declining, 
until it is now lower both in the percentage of tonnage 
and the number of vessels employed than it was prior 
to the Civil War. Commendable progress has been 
made of late years in the upbuilding of the American 
navy ; but we must supplement these efforts by providing 
as a proper consort for it a merchant marine amply 
sufficient for our own carrying trade to foreign coun- 
tries. The question is one that appeals both to our 
business necessities and the patriotic aspii-ations of a 
great people. 

It has been the policy of the United States, since the 
foundation of the government, to cultivate relations of 
peace and amity with all the nations of the world, and 
this accords with my conception of oui* duty now. , We 



12 SPEECHES AND ADDKESSES 

have cherished the policy of non-interference with the 
affairs of foreign governments, wisely inaugurated by 
Washington, keeping ourselves free from entangle- 
ment either as allies or foes, content to leave undisturbed 
with them the settlement of their own domestic con- 
cerns. It will be our aim to pursue a firm and dignified 
foreign policy, which shall be just, impartial, ever watch- 
ful of our national honor, and always insisting upon the 
enforcement of the lawful rights of American citizens 
everywhere. Our diplomacy should seek nothing more 
and accept nothing less than is due us. We want no 
wars of conquest; we must avoid the temptation of 
territorial aggression. War should never be entered 
upon until every agency of peace has failed ; peace is 
preferable to war in almost every contingency. Arbi- 
tration is the true method of settlement of international 
as well as local or individual differences.^' It was recog- 
nized as the best means of adjustment of differences 
between employers and employees by the Forty-ninth 
Congress in 1886, and its application was extended to 
our diplomatic relations by the unanimous concurrence 
of the Senate and House of the Fifty-first Congress in 
1890. The latter resolution was accepted as the basis 
of negotiations with us by the British House of Com- 
mons in 1893; and upon our invitation a treaty of 
arbitration between the United States and Great Britain 
was signed at Washington and transmitted to the Senate 
for its ratification in January last. Since this treaty is 
clearly the result of our own initiative, since it has been 
recognized as the leading feature of our foreign pohcy 
throughout our entire national history,— the adjustment 
of difficulties by judicial methods rather than force of 
arms,— and since it presents to the world the glorious 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 13 

example of reason and peace, not passion and war, 
controlling the relations between two of the greatest na- 
tions of the world, an example certain to be followed by- 
others, I respectfully urge the early action of the Senate 
thereon, not merely as a matter of policy, but as a duty 
to mankind. The importance and moral influence of 
the ratification of such a treaty can hardly be overesti- 
mated in the cause of advancing civilization. It may 
well engage the best thought of the statesmen and people 
of every country, and I cannot but consider it fortunate 
that it was reserved to the United States to have the 
leadership in so grand a work. 

It has been the uniform practice of each President to 
avoid, as far as possible, the convening of Congress in 
extraordinary session. It is an example which, under 
ordinary circumstances and in the absence of a public 
necessity, is to be commended. But a failure to con- 
vene the representatives of the people in Congress in 
extra session when it involves neglect of a j)ublic duty 
places the resj^onsibility of such neglect upon the Execu- 
tive himself. The condition of the public Treasury, as 
has been indicated, demands the immediate considera- 
tion of Congress. It alone has the power to provide 
revenues for the government. Not to convene it under 
such circumstances I can view in no other sense than 
the neglect of a plain duty. I do not sympathize with 
the sentiment that Congress in session is dangerous to 
our general business interests. Its members are the 
agents of the people, and their presence at the seat of 
government in the execution of the sovereign will should 
not operate as an injury, but a benefit. There could be 
no better time to put the government upon a sound finan- 
cial and economic basis than now. The people have 



14 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

only recently voted that this shonld be done, and nothing 
is more binding upon the agents of their will than the 
obligation of immediate action. It has always seemed 
to me that the postponement of the meeting of Congress 
until more than a year after it has been chosen deprived 
Congress too often of the inspiration of the popular will, 
and the country of the corresponding benefits. It is 
evident, therefore, that to postpone action in the pres- 
ence of so great a necessity would be unwise on the 
part of the Executive, because unjust to the interests of 
the people. Our actions now will be freer from mere 
partizan consideration than if the question of tariff 
revision was postponed until the regular session of Con- 
gress. We are nearly two years from a congressional 
election, and politics cannot so greatly distract us as if 
such contest was immediately pending. We can ap- 
proach the problem calmly and patriotically, without 
fearing its effect upon an early election. Our fellow- 
citizens who may disagree with us upon the character of 
this legislation prefer to have the question settled now, 
even against their preconceived views, and perhaps set- 
tled so reasonably, as I trust and believe it will be, as to 
insure great permanence, than to have further uncer- 
tainty menacing the vast and varied business interests 
of the United States. Again, whatever action Congress 
may take will be given a fair opportunity for trial before 
the people are caUed to pass judgment upon it, and this 
I consider a great essential to the rightful and lasting 
settlement of the question. In view of these considera- 
tions, I shall deem it my duty as President to convene 
Congress in extraordinary session on Monday, the fif- 
teenth day of March, 1897. 

In conclusion, I congratulate the country upon the 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 15 

fraternal spirit of the people and the manifestations of 
good will everywhere so apparent. The recent election 
most fortunately demonstrated the obliteration not only 
of sectional or geographical lines, but to some extent 
also of the prejudices which for years have distracted our 
councils and marred our true greatness as a nation. The 
triumph of the people whose verdict is carried into 
effect to-day is not the triumph of one section nor wholly 
of one party, but of all sections and all the people. The 
North and the South no longer divide on the old lines, 
but upon principles and policies ; and in this fact surely 
every lover of the country can find cause for true felici- 
tation. Let us rejoice in and cultivate this spirit ; it is 
ennobling, and will be both a gain and blessing to our 
beloved country. It will be my constant aim to do 
nothing, and permit nothing to be done, that will arrest 
or disturb this growing sentiment of unity and coopera- 
tion, this revival of esteem and affiliation, which now 
animates so many thousands in both the old antagonistic 
sections, but I shall cheerfully do everything possible to 
promote and increase it. 

Let me again repeat the words of the oath adminis- 
tered by the Chief Justice, which in their respective 
spheres, so far as applicable, I would have all my coun- 
trymen observe : "I will faithfully execute the office of 
President of the United States, and wiU to the best of 
my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitu- 
tion of the United States." This is the obligation I have 
reverently taken before the Lord Most High. To keep 
it will be my single purpose, my constant prayer ; and I 
shall confidently rely upon the forbearance and assistance 
of all the people in the discharge of my solemn responsi- 
bilities. 



16 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 



III. 

Address at the Dedication op the Grant Monu- 
ment, New York, April 27, 1897. 

Fellow- Citkens : 

A great life, dedicated to the welfare of the nation, 
here finds its earthly coronation. Even if this day 
lacked the impressiveness of ceremony and was devoid 
of pageantry, it would still be memorable, because it is 
the anniversary of the birth of one of the most famous 
and best beloved of American soldiers. 

Architecture has paid high tribute to the leaders of 
mankind, but never was a memorial more worthily 
bestowed or more gratefully accepted by a free people 
than the beautiful structure before which we are gathered. 

In marking the successful completion of this work, we 
have as witnesses and participants representatives of 
all branches of our government, the resident ofiicials of 
foreign nations, the governors of States, and the sover- 
eign people from every section of our common country, 
who join in this august tribute to the soldier, patriot, 
and citizen. 

Almost twelve years have passed since the heroic vigil 
ended and the brave spirit of Ulysses S. Grant fearlessly 
took its flight. Lincoln and Stanton had preceded him, 
but of the mighty captains of the war Grant was the first 
to be caUed. Sherman and Sheridan survived him, but 
have since joined him on the other shore. 

The great heroes of the civil strife on land and sea 
are, for the most part, now no more. Thomas and 
Hancock, Logan and McPherson, Farragut, Dupont, and 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 17 

Porter, and a host of others, have passed forever from 
human sight. Those remaining grow dearer to us, and 
from them and the memory of those who have departed, 
generations yet unborn will draw their inspiration and 
gather strength for patriotic purpose. 

A great life never dies. Great deeds are imperish- 
able ; great names immortal. General Grant's services 
and character will continue undiminished in influence, 
and advance in the estimation of mankind so long as 
liberty remains the corner-stone of free government and 
integrity of life the guaranty of good citizenship. 

Faithful and fearless as a volunteer soldier, intrepid 
and invincible as commander-in-chief of the armies of 
the Union, calm and confident as President of a reunited 
and strengthened nation which his genius had been 
instrumental in achieving, he has our homage and that 
of the world ; but brilliant as was his public character, 
we love him all the more for his home life and homely 
virtues. His individuality, his bearing and speech, his 
simple ways, had a flavor of rare and unique distinc- 
tion; and his Americanism was so true and uncom- 
promising that his name will stand for all time as the 
embodiment of liberty, loyalty, and national unity. 

Victorious in the work which, under divine Provi- 
dence, he was called upon to do, clothed with almost 
limitless power, he was yet one of the people— plain, 
patient, patriotic, and just. Success did not disturb 
the even balance of liis mind, while fame was powerless 
to swerve him from the path of duty. Great as he was 
in war, he loved peace, and told the world that honor- 
able arbitration of differences was the best hope of 
civilization. 

With Washington and Lincoln, Grant has an exalted 



18 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

place in history and the affections of the people. To-day 
his memory is held in equal esteem by those whom he 
led to victory and by those who accepted his generous 
terms of peace. The veteran leaders of the blue and the 
gray here meet not only to honor the name of the de- 
parted Grant, but to testify to the living reality of a fra- 
ternal national spirit which has triumphed over the 
differences of the past and transcends the limitations 
of sectional lines. Its completion, which we pray God 
to speed, will be the nation's greatest glory. 

It is right, then, that General Grant should have a 
memorial commensurate with his greatness, and that his 
last resting-place should be the city of his choice, to 
which he was so attached in life, and of whose ties he 
was not forgetful even in death. Fitting, too, is it that 
the great soldier should sleep beside the noble river on 
whose banks he first learned the art of war, of which 
he became master and leader without a rival. 

But let us not forget the glorious distinction with 
which the metropolis among the fair sisterhood of 
American cities has honored his life and memory. With 
all that riches and sculpture can do to render the edifice 
worthy of the man, upon a site unsurpassed for magnif- 
icence, has this monument been reared by New York as 
a perpetual record of his illustrious deeds, in the cer- 
tainty that, as time passes, around it will assemble, with 
gratitude and reverence and veneration, men of all 
climes, races, and nationalities. 

New York holds in her keeping the precious dust of 
the silent soldier; but his achievements— what he and 
his brave comrades wrought for mankind— are in the 
keeping of seventy millions of American citizens, who 
will guard the sacred heritage forever and forevermore. 



OP WILLIAM Mckinley. 19 



IV. 



Address at the Unveiling of the "Washington 
Statue by the Society of the Cincinnati, Phila- 
delphia, May 15, 1897. 

Fellow-Citizens : 

There is a peculiar and tender sentiment connected 
with this memorial. It expresses not only the gratitude 
and reverence of the living, but is a testimonial of 
affection and homage from the dead. 

The comrades of Washington projected this monu- 
ment. Their love inspired it. Their contributions 
helped to build it. Past and present share in its com- 
pletion, and future generations will profit by its lessons. 

To participate in the dedication of such a monument 
is a rare and precious privilege. Every monument to 
Washington is a tribute to patriotism. Every shaft and 
statue to his memory helps to inculcate love of coun- 
try, encourage loyalty, and establish a better citizenship. 
God bless every undertaking which revives patriotism 
and rebukes the indifferent and lawless! 

A critical study of Washington's career only en- 
hances our estimation of his vast and varied abilities. 
As commander-in-chief of the colonial armies from the 
beginning of the war to the proclamation of peace, as 
president of the convention which framed the Consti- 
tution of the United States, and as the first President of 
the United States under that Constitution, Washington 
has a distinction differing from that of all other illus- 
trious Americans. No other name bears or can bear such 



20 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

a relation to the government. Not only by his military 
genius— his patience, his sagacity, his courage, and his 
skill— was our national independence won, but he helped 
in largest measure to draft the chart by which the nation 
was guided ; and he was the first chosen of the people 
to put in motion the new government. 

His was not the boldness of martial display or the 
charm of captivating oratory ; but his calm and steady 
judgment won men's support and commanded their con- 
fidence by appealing to their best and noblest aspira- 
tions. And withal Washington was ever so modest that 
at no time in his career did his personality seem in the 
least intrusive. He was above the temptation of power. 
He spurned the suggested crown. He would have no 
honor which the people did not bestow. 

An interesting fact— and one which I love to recall— is 
that the only time Washington formally addressed the 
Constitutional Convention, during all its sessions over 
which he presided in this city, he appealed for a larger 
representation of the people in the national House of 
Representatives, and his appeal was instantly heeded. 
Thus was he ever keenly watchful of the rights of the 
people, in whose hands was the destiny of our govern- 
ment then as it is to-day. 

Masterful as were his military campaigns, his civil 
administration commands equal admiration. His fore- 
sight was marvelous ; his conception of the philosophy 
of government, his insistence upon the necessity of edu- 
cation, morality, and enlightened citizenship to the 
progress and permanence of the republic, cannot be con- 
templated even at this period without fiUing us with 
astonishment at the breadth of his comprehension and 
the sweep of his vision. 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 21 

His was no narrow view of government. The immedi- 
ate present was not his sole concern, but our future good 
his constant theme of study. He blazed the path of 
liberty. He laid the foundation upon which we have 
grown from weak and scattered colonial governments 
to a united republic, whose domains and power, as well 
as whose liberty and freedom, have become the admiration 
of the world. Distance and time have not detracted 
from the fame and force of his achievements or dimin- 
ished the grandeur of his life and work. Great deeds do 
not stop in their growth, and those of Washington will 
expand in influence in all the centuries to follow. 

The bequest Washington has made to civilization is 
rich beyond computation. The obligations under which 
he has placed mankind are sacred and commanding. 
The responsibility he has left for the American people to 
preserve and perfect what he accomplished is exacting 
and solemn. Let us rejoice in every new evidence that 
the people realize what they enjoy, and cherish with affec- 
tion the illustrious heroes of Revolutionary story whose 
valor and sacrifices made us a nation. They live in us, 
and their memory will help us keep the covenant entered 
into for the maintenance of the freest government on 
earth. 

The nation and the name of Washington are insepa- 
rable. One is linked indissolubly with the other. Both 
are glorious, both triumphant. Washington lives and 
will live because what he did was for the exaltation of 
man, the enthronement of conscience, and the establish- 
ment of a government which recognizes all the governed. 
And so, too, will the nation live victorious over all ob- 
stacles, adhering to the immortal principles which Wash- 
ington taught and Lincoln sustained. 



22 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



V 

Rejiarks to the American Medical Association, 
Academy of Music, Philadelphia, June 2, 1897. 

Mr. CJiairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

Although summoued to this city for another purpose, 
I deem mj^self most fortunate to find this honorable as- 
sociation, in its semi-centennial convention, meeting on 
the same day, and I could not refrain from taking a 
moment from the busy program mapped out for me by 
Dr. Pepper, whose assurance I had before coming here 
that it would be a day of rest [laughter], which I have 
already begun to realize [renewed laughter]. I could 
not refrain from pausing a moment, that I might come 
into this brilliant presence to meet the learned gentlemen 
here assembled, and to pay my respectful homage to the 
noble profession which you so worthily represent. [Ap- 
plause.] You have my best wishes, and, I am sure, the 
best wishes of all our countrymen, for the highest results 
of your profession, and my warm and hearty congratula- 
tions upon this your fiftieth anniversary. [Applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 23 



VI. 

Remarks at the School of Industrl^l Art, 
Philadelphia, June 2, 1897. 

Ladies and Gentlemen : 

It gives me very sincere pleasure to see, as I have 
seen in the last few minutes, this great industrial 
school of art. There is nothing like the application of 
art to industry. Nothing wins in this world like industry 
supplemented by character. Industry and character win 
in every contest and triumph in every field. I con- 
gratulate the young men and young women upon the 
opportunities which this institution gives them, and I 
congratulate the officers and board of managers in 
having charge of this institution. [Applause.] 



VII. 

Address at the National Opening of the Phila- 
delphia MusETOis, Philadelphia, June 2, 1897. 

Ladies and Gentlemen : 

To have assembled the representatives of great com- 
mercial and industrial interests at home and abroad in 
such large numbers is so unusual as to make this a 
memorable event. Chambers of commerce and boards 
of trade, mayors of cities and governors of States, to- 
gether with official visitors from fifteen other nations, 



24 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

■unite to testify to the importance attached to this under- 
taking. 

Every one of our sister republics of this continent is 
here represented through its special minister, and in a 
number of instances large delegations of prominent 
citizens have made long journeys at great sacrifice to 
participate in this significant occasion. To all we give 
hearty greeting and a most hospitable welcome. 

No ordinary object could have produced such an in- 
dustrial convention. Interstate and international inter- 
ests and courtesy have contributed to its success ; but 
nothing less than a deep conviction in the minds of the 
people represented, that the movement here begun will 
eventually effect permanent gains in their commercial 
relations, can account for its wide and distinguished 
character. 

The avowed aim of the Philadelphia Museums is to 
aid in the development of commercial and industrial 
prosperity. No worthier cause can engage our energies 
at this hour. It is a most praiseworthy one — the ex- 
tension of trade to be followed by wider markets, better 
fields of employment, and easier conditions for the 
masses. Such an effort commands the instant approval 
of all lovers of mankind, for with it are linked the pros- 
perity of the humblest toiler and the welfare of every 
home and fireside. 

The movement is inaugurated on broad and progres- 
sive lines. Its authors and promoters believe that the 
conditions of international commerce can be directly 
promoted by systematic study and demonstrated by 
scientific methods. The distinguished body of gentle- 
men who hiiye planned this organization have grasped 
great economic truths, and are prepared to pursue them 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 25 

to their successful conclusion. Its generous support ' 
will increase its usefulness. 

One national industrial undertaking prepares the way 
for another. A great exhibit like this is an education 
and an inspiration. It concentrates the attention of the 
citizens It broadens their ideas, strengthens their con- 
fidence, promotes the spirit of friendly cooperation and 
rivalry^ awakens a commendable ambition, and encour- 
ages effort in the utilization of all forces and processes 
of production. 

The World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago was the 
forerunner of this less general but more permanent 
contribution to the world's economic advance. Many of 
the Chicago exhibits here remain intact, and have been 
intelligently supplemented to such an extent that the 
management of the Philadelphia Museums make the 
proud claim that their exhibition is the most complete 
and extensive of its class now in existence. 

Not only has a wonderful demonstration been made 
of the products and advancement of our country, but of 
those of all the American republics. A spirit of friendly 
and mutually advantageous interchange and cooperation 
has been exemplified, which is in itself an inspiring help 
not only to trade and commerce, but to international 
comity and good will. 

Good will precedes good trade. 

The producer and consumer of both continents are 
here brought together in close touch, and are taught to 
work together for the common weal. In order that new 
markets may be opened and a larger trade profitably 
conducted, the manufacturer must have the opportunity 
of becoming familiar with the character of the goods 
desired by the consumer. And so, too, the consumer 



26 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

should have the opportunity to examine the goods which 
the manufacturer is anxious to dispose of to him. 

It follows, then, that a recognized central institution 
of real stability such as this is, whose integrity of man- 
agement cannot be questioned, with ample means can 
be made of inestimable advantage not only to a genera- 
tion in a single country, but to a whole continent and 
for the vast future. Ability as well as capital is essen- 
tial to the success of trade, and fortunately with both of 
these the Museums are well equipped. It is said that 
the data which can here be found ready for quick and 
accurate reference are obtainable to a degree not even 
attempted anywhere else in the world. 

Under the circumstances, and even at this early date, 
it is not too much to say that a movement of this kind 
is, in its general scope, national— aye, and more than 
that, international— in character, and to predict that its 
success, if wisely conducted, will surprise even its most 
enthusiastic friends and founders. Resting upon busi- 
ness principles, looking solely to the welfare of the 
country at large, benefiting other nations as well as our 
own, the intent and realization of this world's industrial 
object-lesson are in accord with the best spirit of the age 
and worthy of the good will and helpfulness of every 
patriotic American. 

I assure the promoters of this enterprise of the deep 
interest of our government and the people in its success. 
I congratulate the citizens of Philadelphia, justly re- 
nowned for the Centennial Exposition, which first 
demonstrated to the world the marvelous development 
of our resources, that to them have been intrusted the 
care and completion of this great work. 

Well and far-sightedly has this municipality acted in 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 27 

creating the new institution as practically a separate 
department of its government. With liberal appropria- 
tions of money and the gift of a valuable site, the people 
of this city, the birthj)lace of American liberty, have 
once more demonstrated their patriotic spirit and pur- 
pose, calling into fellowship and counsel representatives 
of the chief commercial bodies of this continent. The 
United States is a grateful debtor to Philadelphia. She 
contributed immeasurably to the triumph of liberty ; she 
would now aid in the triumphs of labor. 

Who can doubt that the deliberations of these able 
and public-spirited men, acting together freely and cor- 
dially, animated by a common impulse and a common 
interest, will result in still closer relations of interna- 
tional comity and a higher prosperity for all ? 

May God's blessing rest upon this worthy enterprise 
and upon those who shall labor for its welfare. 

I now declare the Philadelphia Museums formally 
opened. 

VIII. 

Speech at the Banquet given by the Philadelphia 
Museums and the Manufacturers' Club at the 
Bourse, Philadelphia, June 2, 1897. 

Dr. Pepper, Gentlemen of the Manufacturers^ Club, Dele- 
gates to the International Convention, Ladies and 
Gentlemen : 
For the cordiality of your reception I am indeed 
grateful, although from my experiences in this great 
city it is not altogether surprising and unexpected. 
[Applause.] 



28 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

A recent visit to your city gave me an opportunity to 
feel tlie welcome heart-touch of the people of Philadel- 
phia and enjoy their boundless hospitality. [Great 
applause.] 

I must tell you that from first to last I have been 
deeply impressed with the scenes witnessed in this 
city to-day : the remarkable spectacle of the repre- 
sentatives of all the American republics, with the 
products of their skill and their soil in one common 
warehouse for comparison and observation, thanks to 
Dr. Pepper and the Philadelphia Museums. [Great ap- 
plause.] 

The first great convention of these republics was 
organized by the matchless diplomacy of that splendid 
American, James G. Blaine. [Cheers and tremendous 
applause.] Seven years ago he brought the govern- 
ments of this continent together, and taught the doc- 
trine that genuine reciprocity in trade required reci- 
procity of information. [Great applause.] 

And it was the genius of the many gentlemen I 
see around this board to-night that originated the 
Bureau of American Republics, located in the capital 
city, which has already done much good, and which, 
I believe, will yet play an increasingly important part 
in our trade relations with the governments supporting 
it. [Cheers and applause.] 

My fellow-citizens, there is no use in making a prod- 
uct if you cannot find somebody to take it. [Applause.] 
The maker must find a taker. [Applause.] You will 
not employ labor to make a product unless you can find 
a buyer for that product after you have made it. [Cheers 
and applause.] 

I am glad to meet the representatives of the Ameri- 



4. 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 29 

can republics here to-night. I am glad to meet the 
representatives of all the governments of the world 
here to-night. I have met the manufacturers of Phila- 
delphia and the State of Pennsylvania before. [Ap- 
plause and laughter.] I met you in the day of your 
highest prosperity. [Prolonged cheering.] I now 
meet you in this your hour of somewhat prolonged 
adversity. 

But let me tell you, my countrymen, that resusci- 
tation will not be promoted by recrimination. [Ap- 
plause.] The distrust of the present will not be 
relieved by a distrust of the future. [Applause.] A 
patriot makes a better citizen than a pessimist. [Great 
applause.] And we have got to be patient. [Ap- 
plause.] Much as we want to move out of the old 
house, we cannot do it until the new one is finished. 
[Cheers and applause.] 

A tariff law half made is of no practical use except to 
indicate that in a little while a whole tariff law will be 
done [applause], and it is making progress [great ap- 
plause]. It is reaching the end, and when the end 
comes we will have business confidence and industrial 
activity. [Renewed applause.] Let us keep steady 
heads and steady hearts. [Applause.] The country 
is not going backward, but forward. [Applause.] Amer- 
ican energy has not been destroyed by the storms of 
the past. [Applause.] It will yet triumph through wise 
and beneficent legislation. [Great cheering.] 

Philadelphians have in the past shown what busy in- 
dustries and well-employed labor can do to make a great 
city and a contented population. [Applause.] They do 
not mean to accept present conditions as permanent 
and final. [Cheers.] They will meet embarrass- 



30 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

ments as they have bravely met them in the past, and 
in the end will restore industries and labor to their 
former condition and prosperity. [Great cheering.] 
And, gentlemen, Philadelphia is but a type of Ameri- 
can pluck and purpose everywhere. [Great and pro- 
longed applause.] 



IX. 



Address at the Tennessee Centennial Exposition, 
Nashville, June 11, 1897. 

Mr. President, Officers of the Tennessee Centennial Exposi- 
tion, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

American nationality, compared with that of Europe 
and the Orient, is still very young; and yet we are 
already beginning to have age enough for centennial 
anniversaries in States other than the original thirteen. 
Such occasions are always interesting, and when cele- 
brated in a practical way, are useful and instructive. 
Combining retrospect and review, they recall what has 
been done by State and nation, and point out what yet 
remains for both to accomplish in order to fulfil their 
highest destiny. 

This celebration is of general interest to the whole 
country, and of special significance to the people of the 
South and West. It marks the end of the first century 
of the State of Tennessee, and the close of the first year 
of its second century. 

One hundred and one years ago this State was ad- 
mitted into the Union as the sixteenth member in the 
great family of American commonwealths. It was a 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 31 

welcome addition to the national household— a com- 
munity young, strong, and sturdy, with an honored 
and heroic ancestry, with fond anticipations not only 
of its founders, but faith in its success on the part of 
the far-seeing and sagacious statesmen of the time in 
all parts of the country. I am justified in saying that 
these anticipations have been grandly realized, that the 
present of this community of sterling worth is even 
brighter than prophets of the past had dared to fore- 
cast it. 

The builders of the State, who had forced their way 
through the trackless forests of this splendid domain, 
brought with them the same high ideals and fearless 
devotion to home and country, founded on resistance to 
oppression, which have everywhere made illustrious the 
American character. Whether it was the territory of 
Virginia or that of North Carolina mattered little to 
them. They came willing and eager to fight for inde- 
pendence and liberty, and in the War of the Revolution 
were ever loyal to the standard of Washington. When 
their representatives served in the Colonial Assembly of 
North Carolina they chose — for the first time in our coun- 
try, so far as I know— the great name of Washington 
for the district in which they lived, and at the close of 
the Revolution sought to organize their territory into a 
State, to be known as the State of Franklin, in grateful 
homage to the name of another of its most distinguished 
patriot commoners. 

Spain had sought to possess their territory by right of 
discovery as a part of Florida. France claimed it by 
right of cession as a part of Louisiana, and England as 
hers by conquest. But neither contention could for an 
instant be recognized. Moved by the highest instincts 



32 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

of self-government, guided bj^ conscience and tlie loftiest 
motives of patriotism, under gallant old John Sevier, at 
King's Mountain, your forefathers bravely vindicated 
their honor and gloriously won their independence. 

Thus came the new State, second only then of the 
now mighty West and Southwest. And it has made a 
wonderful history for itself. Tennessee has sometimes 
been called the "mother of Southwestern statesmen." 
It furnished us the immortal Jackson, whose record in 
war and whose administration in peace as the head of 
the great republic shine on with the advancing years. 
The century has only added to the luster of his name, 
increased the obligations of his countrymen, and exalted 
him in their affectionate regard. Polk and Johnson also 
were products of this great State, and many more heroes 
of distinguished deeds, whose names will come unbidden 
to your memories while I speak. 

Tennesseeans have ever been volunteer, not drafted, 
patriots. In 1846, when twenty-four hundred soldiers 
were called for, thirty thousand loyal Tennesseeans 
offered their services ; and amid the trials and terrors of 
the great Civil War, under conditions of pecuUar distress 
and embarrassment, her people divided on contending 
sides. But upon whichever side found, they fought 
fearless of sacrifice or death. Now, happily, there 
are no contending sides in this glorious common- 
wealth, or in any part of our beloved country. The 
men who opposed each other in dreadful battle a 
third of a century ago are once more and forever 
united in heart and purpose under one flag in a never- 
to-be broken Union. 

The glory of Tennessee is not alone in the brilliant 
names it has contributed to history, or the heroic patriot- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 33 

ism displayed by the people in so many crises of our 
national life ; but its material and industrial wealth, 
social advancement, and population are striking and 
significant in their growth and development. Thirty- 
five thousand settlers in this State in 1790 had in- 
creased to one million one hundred and nine thousand 
in 1860, and to-day it has a population closely approxi- 
mating two million. Its manufactures, which in 1860 
were small and unimportant, in 1890 had reached 
seventy-two million dollars in value, while its farm 
products now aggregate more than sixty-two million 
dollars annually. Its river commerce on three great 
international waterways, its splendid railways operating 
nearly three thousand miles of road, its mineral wealth 
of incalculable value, form a splendid augury for the 
future. I am sure no better workmen could be found 
than the people of Tennessee to turn these confident 
promises into grand realities. 

Your exposition shows, better than any words of mine 
can tell, the details of your wealth of resources and 
power of production. You have done wisely in exhibit- 
ing these to your own people and to your sister States, 
and at no time could the display be more effective than 
now, when what the country needs more than all 
else is restored confidence in itself. This exposition 
demonstrates directly your own faith and purpose, and 
signifies in the widest sense your true and unfailing 
belief in the irrepressible pluck of the American people, 
and is a promising indication of the return of Ameri- 
can prosperity. 

The knowledge which this beautiful and novel exposi- 
tion gives wiU surely develop your trade, increase your 
output, enlarge your fields of employment, promote 



34: SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

inventive competition, and extend your markets, and so 
eventually pay for all it cost, as Avell as justify local 
sentiment and encourage State pride. 

Men and women I see about me from all parts of the 
country, and thousands more will assemble here before 
the exposition is closed. Let us always remember that 
whatever differences about politics may have existed, or 
still exist, we are all Americans before we are partizans, 
and cherish the welfare of all the people above party or 
State. Citizens of different States, we yet love all the 
States ; and in turn all the States, by ties of interest, 
affection, and immortal memories, are attached to the 
nation with unfailing and unceasing love. 

The lesson of the hour, then, is this: to be faith- 
ful to our opportunities in our several spheres, never 
forgetting that not one citizen or several citizens have 
the sole care of our government, but all the citizens of 
all the States are equally responsible for its progress 
and preservation, and all are equal recipients of good or 
ill. Hopefully looking into the future, let us firmly 
resolve that whatever adverse conditions may tempo- 
rarily impede our national progress, nothing shall per- 
manently stay or defeat it. 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 35 



X. 



Speech to The Vermont Fish and Gajie League, at 
Isle La Motte, Vermont, August 6, 1897. 

ilfr. Toastmaster and my Fellow- Citizens : 

I wisli I had fitting words to respond to this gracious 
■welcome and this most generous hospitality. I can only 
say I reciprocate the sentiment expressed by the song. 
[Cries of " Good ! "] I like Vermont ; I like her people. 
I am never in the presence of a New England audience 
that I do not recall that the civilization of New England 
penetrates every State and Territory of the American 
Union ; and I do not forget that wherever New England 
civilization is found, loyal and patriotic American men 
and women are found. 

One of the things I promised myself when I left the 
city of Washington was that I would not make a speech. 
One of the assurances that I received from the officers 
of the Fish and Game League was that I would not be 
required to make a speech ; but from what I have heard 
of this league I am prepared to believe almost anything 
of it. [Applause.] 

As Americans we have a right to rejoice in our glorious 
civilization. I say to Vermonters and say to all New 
England that to them this country owes much— more 
than it can ever repay — for the self-governing principle 
they have sent through all the States of the Union. 
[Great applause.] 



36 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

XI. 

Remarks at Proctor, Vermont, August 12, 1897. 

Fellow-Citizens : 

It gives me great pleasure to respond for a moment to 
the cordial welcome which you have given me this even- 
ing. I recall with the greatest satisfaction my visit to 
this place five years ago, and I am glad to renew your 
acquaintance here to-night. I am glad to see about me 
so many, not only of the men and women, but of the 
boys and girls of Proctor. There is in it all the sug- 
gestion of the family, where virtue prevails— the greatest 
of all virtues, the home virtue, upon which is founded 
our free institutions. I trust we may always preserve 
the purity of our American homes. From this comes 
good citizenship, and from it I see the glory of our 
country. I am glad to enjoy the entertainment of your 
distinguished feUow-citizen and my friend [Senator 
Proctor], and to renew my friendship with you. [Great 
applause.] 



XII. 

Speech to Assemblage at Railway-Station, 
Syracuse, New York, August 24, 1897. 

My Felloiv- Citizens : 

I am extremely pleased to visit your city, and I appre- 
ciate your generous welcome. This is a year when in a 
very marked degree patriotism is being exalted and 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 37 

patriots are being honored. In the month of April, in 
the city of New York, the people of that metropolis 
dedicated a magnificent mausoleum to that greatest of 
all the great soldiers of the Civil War, General Ulysses 
S. Grant. [Great applause.] In May following, in the 
city of Philadelphia, there was unveiled an equestrian 
statue to that greatest soldier of the Revolution, General 
George Washington [great applause] ; and only a few 
days ago, in the inland metropolis in the State of Illinois, 
there was unveiled a superb monument to that great 
volunteer soldier, the hero of two wars. General John A. 
Logan. [Great applause.] This week the Empire State 
of New York is laying at the feet of the largest patri- 
otic body in the world its tribute of affection for the 
conspicuous services rendered in the Civil War by the 
Grand Army of the Republic. [Great applause.] We 
cannot exalt patriotism too highj we cannot too much 
encourage love of country; for, my fellow-citizens, as 
long as patriotism exists in the hearts of the American 
people, so long will our matchless institutions be secure 
and permanent. [Great applause.] 

XIII. 

Remarks prom Balcony of Hotel at Buffalo, 
New York, August 24, 1897. 

My Fellow- Citizens : 

I come to greet you and to thank you at the same time 
for your generous welcome. The Grand Army of the 
Republic seems to be on foot to-day, but not carrying 
arms. These were long since laid aside, and the Grand 
Army of the Republic is to-day dedicated to peace and 



38 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

the Union forever. I am glad to be in the city of Buf- 
falo with my comrades of 'Gl and '65, and my comrades 
now. [Great applause.] 



XIV. 

Speech at Banquet of Ellicott Club, Buffalo, 
New York, August 24, 1897. 

Mr. Toastmaster and Comrades and my FeUow-Citizens : 

I wish I might frame fitting words to make suitable 
response to the more than gi'acious welcome which 
you have accorded me here to-night. I come with no 
set form of speech, I come with no studied phrases to 
present to you, but in the spirit of comradeship [great 
applause], to talk with you as we have often talked in 
the past, around the camp-fires in war as well as the 
camp-fires in peace. [Applause.] To me, I see by the 
program, has been assigned the toast, ''The Country 
and its Defenders." My fellow-citizens, blessed is that 
country whose defenders are patriots. [Applause.] 

Blessed is that country whose soldiers fight for it and 
are willing to give the best they have, the best that any 
man has,— their own lives,— to preserve it, because they 
love it. [Applause.] Such an army the United States 
has always commanded in every crisis of its history. 
[Applause.] From the War of the Revolution to the 
late Civil War, the men followed that flag in battle, be- 
cause they loved it and believed in what it represented. 
[Applause.] That was the stuif of which the volunteer 
army of '61 was made. [Applause.] Every one of them 
not only fought, but thought. [Applause.] And many 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 39 

of tliem did their own thinking [laughter and applause], 
and did not always agree with their commanders. 
[Laughter and applause.] 

You recall that young soldier in the late war, upon the 
battle-line, ahead with the color-guard, bearing the Stars 
and Stripes way in front of the line, but the enemy still 
in front of him. The general called out to the color-bearer, 
" Bring those colors back to the line " ; and, quicker than 
any bullet, the young soldier answered back, " Bring 
the line up to the colors." [Prolonged applause.] 

It was the voice of command; there was a man be- 
hind it, and there was patriotism in his heart. 

And so more than two million brave men thus re- 
sponded, and made up an army grander than any army 
that ever shook the earth with its tread [applause], and 
engaged in as holy a cause as soldiers ever fought 
for. [Applause.] What defenders, my countrymen, 
have we now ? We have the remnant of this old, magnif- 
icent, matchless army of which I have been speaking, 
and then, as allies in any future war, we have the brave 
men who fought against us on Southern battle-fields. 
[Great applause.] 

/■ The army of Grant and the army of Lee are together. 
[Applause.] They are one now in faith, in hope, in fra- 
ternity, in purpose, and in an invincible patriotism. 
[Applause.] And, therefore, the country is in no danger. 
[Applause.] In justice strong, in peace secure, and in 
devotion to the flag all one. [Great applause.] / 



40 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



XV. 



Speech at G. A. R. Ca]mp-Fire, Asbury Church, 
Buffalo, New York, August 24, 1897. 

Ladies and Gentlemen : 

The saddest part of the reunion of the old soldiers of 
the army is that at every annual encampment we miss 
many familiar faces. Our comrades are diminishing 
with the passing years ; the circle is narrowing, and 
every annual roll-call discloses one and still another not 
present, but accounted for. They have gone from 
human sight ; they have passed from association with 
us here ; they have gone to join the great majority of 
that army with which they were so long associated, and 
they sleep to-night upon another shore. Grant has 
gone, Sherman and Sheridan and Thomas and McPher- 
son and Logan, and a long list besides, rich in precious 
memories. And not only have the great commanders 
gone, but the rank and file of that splendid army have 
joined their old commanders on the other shore. It is 
our duty, it is our business, to perpetuate their mem- 
ories; to preserve and improve and strengthen and 
glorify the institutions for which they fought and for 
which they gave their lives. 

I thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for this moment 
that you have given me to pay my respects to that noble 
army of volunteers. [Great applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 41 



XVI. 

Speech at G. A. R. Caivip-Fire, Delaware Avenue 
M. E. Church, Buffalo, New York, August 24, 
1897. 

Gentlemen : 

I have come to this presence to-night that I might 
pay my respects to my old comrades, and lay at their 
feet my tribute of love and appreciation. 

It has been thirty-six years since the beginning of 
the great Civil War, and thirty-two years since its close. 
It seems not so long nor so far away, and when we re- 
member that more than a million of the soldiers of that 
war still survive, and that in this noble city to-night are 
representatives of that grand army that fought for hu- 
man liberty in as noble a cause as any in which mankind 
ever engaged, it seems almost impossible that we are a 
third of a century from the close of the great struggle. 
When the war commenced we had no conception of its 
length, and we had less conception of the great results 
which were to follow from that struggle. We thought 
that the Union to be saved was the Union as it was, 
forgetting that wars and revolutions cannot be pre- 
scribed and the circle of their influence determined in 
advance. Nobody believed — I mean of the great mass 
of the people — that with the end of that war would be the 
end of human slavery. But not from men was our 
issue ; from Him who is a sovereign of land and of 
sea came our ordeal of battle, that men might be free. 
And as the result of that great civil struggle we have 



42 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

the greatest government because we have the freest gov- 
ernment, and we have the freest government because we 
have an equal government, governed equally by equal 
citizens everywhere. [Applause.] And it is the busi- 
ness of the living, it is the business of the citizen, it is 
the business of the men and the women in every part of 
our common country, to cultivate the highest and best 
citizenship ; for upon it rests the destiny of our govern- 
ment. [Applause.] 

I must be excused, my fellow-citizens, from attempting 
to do more at this time than to express my gratification 
at being permitted to mingle again with the old soldiers 
of the war, and to congratulate them that they have 
assembled this year in the city of Buifalo, which is giving 
to them such boundless hospitality. [Great applause.] 



XVII. 

Speech at the Reunion of the Twenty-third Ohio 
Regbient, at Fremont, Ohio, Septejmber 2, 1897. 

Mr. President, my Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

I am glad to meet my fellow-citizens of my native 
State that I love so well and which has so much and so 
long honored me. [Cheers.] I am glad to meet with 
you in the city of Fremont, about the hearthstone of our 
old commander, now gone, whom we all loved so much. 
[Cheers.] On behalf of my comrades of the Twenty- 
third Ohio I want to thank the mayor and the people 
of the city for the gracious hospitality they have given 
us to-day. 

My comrades, the memories of the war are sweeter 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 43 

tlian ser\dce in the war. [Laiighter.] It is a good deal 
pleasanter and very much safer to fight onr battles o'er 
as we are doing to-day than it was to fight them from 
'CI to '65. But we could not have had these glorious 
memories if we had not rendered the service— a service 
rendered in freedom's cause, and for a country that is 
forever saved. We had a good regiment, but there 
were nearly two hundred good regiments from our good 
State [cheers], and there were two million men and 
upward just like you from all of the Northern States 
and Territories of the Union, who were willing to do 
and die for the government and for the flag. [Cheers.] 

We had a good regiment ; first, because we had good 
private soldiers, and second, because we had good 
commanders. Every one of our ten companies was 
well officered. And then, think of the field- and staif- 
officers that the Twenty-third Regiment had— no better 
anywhere in the service. That great tactician, that 
magnificent disciplinarian, that leader of armies. General 
William S. Rosecrans. [Cheers.] God bless him ! Let 
that be our prayer here to-day as our love goes out to 
him in his distant home in California. 

And so officers and men made the Twenty-third a 
splendid regiment. But it was the rank and file of 
that regiment that, after all, gave it its glory. This 
old flag [pointing to the regimental flag which stood 
before him] was never shot down that a hundred 
men did not fly to pick it up and lift it aloft. [Cheers.] 
You did your duty; that is all that anybody can do. 
The Union soldiers all did theii* duty. That is honor 
enough, but the glory of it is that we have a reunited, a 
recreated country. [Cheers.] That is the price of your 
sacrifice ; and to-day, instead of liaving sectional divi- 



44 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

sions beneath this flag, we have none. They are all 
obliterated, and the men who fought for this flag and 
the men who opposed it, on the many battle-fields of 
the South, are now forever united in faith and friend- 
ship for its defense. [Cheers.] 

No man can look on this great American audience 
to-day and not feel that the country's institutions are 
safe. There is a flag in the hand of every child, and 
patriotism in every man's heart. [Cheers.] 

But, my fellow-citizens, it is not the business of the 
presiding oflicer to make a speech, I have already 
talked to you too long. We have an army— most of 
them retired, it is true— of distinguished orators on 
this platform here to-day. I have the very great 
pleasure now of presenting to this audience an old 
comrade, a distinguished soldier, commanding a Michi- 
gan regiment, once the commander-in-chief of the 
Grand Army of the Republic (the most patriotic body 
on earth), the present Secretary of War, General RusseU 
A. Alger. [Applause.] 

XVIII. 

Speech at State Fair, Coltoibus, Ohio, 
September 3, 1897. 

My Felloiv-Citizens : 

It is almost a hopeless task to undertake to make 
myself heard by this assemblage. After more than 
eighteen months of absence from the capital city of 
my State, it is peculiarly gratifying to me to return to 
these beautiful agricultural grounds to meet my old 
friends and fellow-citizens, with whom, for so many 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 45 

years, I have been associated. If I had been asked to 
select a greeting most agreeable to myself, it would 
have been that greeting which the committee has pre- 
pared of the children of the schools of the State assem- 
bled on these grounds to-day. [Applause.] 

The presence of forty thousand school-children com- 
mands our affection and inspires our hope ; and I con- 
gratulate the children of Ohio that they enjoy ex- 
ceptional opportunities for education at the hands of 
the government of the State. No other State has higher 
common-school advantages than the State of Ohio ; and 
it is gratifying to remember that half a milHon children 
every day in our State crowd the door-steps of our public 
schools in search of knowledge to fit them for the grave 
and responsible duties of life. 

There is one thing of which the United States can 
proudly boast, and that is our great public-school system, 
where the boys and girls from every walk of life assemble 
in full equality and enjoy equally with all their fellows 
all the advantages of public instruction. 

I am glad to meet these school-children to-day. 
Children's day it is to you now, but in a little while it 
will be citizens' day with all of you. Upon you in a 
little while will rest the duty as well as the responsibility 
of carrying on the great political fabric established by 
the fathers, and bearing the banner they have so 
proudly borne in the past. [Great applause.] 

God bless the school-children of Ohio ! God bless 
the school-children of America, and guide them to in- 
telligence and virtue and morality and patriotism ; and 
with these elements dominating our citizenship, our 
institutions are safe and our republic will be glorious 
forever. [Great applause.] 



46 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

XIX. 

Speech at Akron, Ohio, Septeiviber 4, 1897. 

3Iy Fellow-Citisens : 

I could not for a moment think of having you all so 
far away from me when you are all so near my heart. 
It seems like coming back home to come to the city of 
Akron. For more than twenty years I have enjoyed 
the friendship and confidence of the people of this city 
and of the county of Summit. I am glad to be with 
you here, if only for a moment, that I may look into 
your happy and hopeful faces. On this very spot I 
have seen great assemblages of my fellow-citizens. I 
have been welcomed by you many times in the past, 
but no welcome you have ever given me was so 
grateful to my heart as the one here to-day. 

We are all of us Americans. We are all of us for our 
country, for its prosperity and its glory ; and, in the 
short time I have allotted to me, I can only wish for all 
of you health and peace and happiness, the realization 
of your highest aspirations, and that your industry and 
thrift may have their greatest rewards. [Great applause.] 

XX. 

Remarks at Canton, Ohio, September 4, 1897. 

My Felloiv-Citizens : 

I do not know what I can say to this great concourse 
of my fellow-townsmen, except that I am glad to be with 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 4? 

you once more, to look into these familiar faces and to 
hear the music of this band that is a credit and a de- 
light not only to the city of Canton, but to all the cities 
and communities which it visits. 

It gave me peculiar pleasure to hear this band and to 
hear of it words of commendation from all quarters. 
I am glad, my fellow-citizens, to be at home again. I 
am glad for this manifestation of your good will. [Great 
applause.] 



XXI. 

Rejiarks to the Lesicoln Club, Sojierset, 
Pennsylvania, September 9, 1897. 

My Felloiv-Citizens : 

I am both pleased and honored to meet my friends of 
Somerset County, and to acknowledge the gracious com- 
pliment of this call and serenade on the part of the 
Lincoln Club of Somerset. [Cheers.] I am glad to meet 
my countrymen, irrespective of party [cheers], for all of 
us are interested in the welfare, prosperity, and gran- 
deur of our common country. [Cheers.] 

I wish for all of you happiness in your lives and in 
your homes, prosperity in the occupations which may 
engage you, and with all of you I wish for the progress 
and glory of the United States. [Loud cheers.] 

After home, our first concern is country, and our coun- 
try, with its splendid institutions and its great possi- 
bilities, is safe so long as virtue resides in the home and 
patriotism abides in the hearts of the people. [Pro- 
longed applause.] 



48 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



XXII. 

Ee^viarks at the Eeception op R. p. Ctobuns Post, 
G. A. R., Sojvierset, Pennsylvania, September 10, 
1897. 

Comrades : 

Nothing can be more grateful to me than to receive 
this honor and compliment from my old comrades of the 
war. I never look into the faces of the old soldiers who 
braved the dangers of that time that I am not touched 
deeply, and it gives me peculiar pleasure to meet and 
greet those gathered here to-night. I shall be glad to 
shake the hand of each one of you, if it be your wish. 
I discover that the population of Somerset is constantly 
increasing. [Laughter and applause.] 



XXIII. 

Speech at the Hoosac Valley Agricultural Soci- 
ety Fair, North Adabis, Massachusetts, September 
22, 1897. 

My FeUoiv-Citizens : 

This unexpected incident of my visit to the Berkshii'e 
HiUs is especially gratifying to me, because it gives me 
the pleasure and opportunity of meeting the people of 
Massachusetts and expressing in their presence my re- 
gard for them and their noble State. [Applause.] 

A great State is a valued inlieritance, all the more 



^^k^^A^k^ 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 49 

when it has for its support an illustrious past. This 
you have in as great measure as any commonwealth in 
the Union. [Applause.] No other has a prouder his- 
tory; no other carries more priceless memories; no 
other commands greater respect and veneration. 
Loving liberty, and enjoying its blessed privileges 
yourselves, you have not been unmindful of others, 
but have greatly aided in securing it for those less 
fortunate. [Applause.] You have been a mighty force 
in the upbuilding and progress of the republic from 
the beginning, and your influence has been unfailing 
for all that is good in government and all that is 
exalted in citizenship. [Great applause.] 

The New England home is no longer confined to 
New England. It has been established in every part of 
the country, and from it go out good thoughts and 
deeds, good men and women, helpful in sustaining our 
glorious fabric of government, and advancing justice, 
liberty, and peace among men. [Applause.] God bless 
and prosper the American home and the American 
people ! Upon these rest the strength and virtue and 
permanence of the nation, which we pray our heavenly 
Father to ever have in his sacred keeping. 



XXIV. 

Rejiarks at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, 
Septe^iber 2i, 1897. 

Mr. Mayor and Fellow- Citizens : 

I desire to express my appreciation of the gi'acious 
welcome which you have given me as I journeyed 



50 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

through your city on my way to Lenox. One of the 
most gratifying conditions to be found to-day is that 
feeling of amity and friendship and fraternity exist- 
ing in all sections of our country. These boys and 
these girls, whom I see around me in such vast numbers, 
must in a little while take upon themselves the duty 
of citizenship. We have to-day a Union stronger and 
better and firmer than it ever was before, and if these 
young people continue the morality and virtue practised 
in their youth, I know they will be prepared to carry 
forward this great Union to still greater glories. [Great 
applause.] 

XXV. 

Speech on the Occasion of the Laying of the 
Corner-Stone of the Memorial and Library 
Building, Adajvis, Massachusetts, October 1, 1897. 

Mr. Commander, my Comrades and Felloiv-Citisens : 

It has given me very great pleasure to participate with 
the citizens of Adams in this memorial service, which 
will ever be remembered by the people of this town, be- 
cause it is intended to perpetuate patriotism and is their 
testimony to patriotic devotion. You have authorized 
the erection of this statue that you may commemorate 
the services and sacrifices of the brave men who went 
out from this community more than thirty years ago, 
willing to give the best they had and all they had that 
the Union might be preserved, and the flag continue to 
float in honor. Every memorial building erected to the 
soldiers of the war is a monument to duty well done, 
and is a lesson in patriotism to the generations that are 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 51 

to follow. I rejoice with you to-day that the men for 
whom this mouument is to be builded did not die in 
vain; that the Union for which they fought and for 
which they fell is stronger, grander, and more enduring 
than ever ; and it is with you, with the living and those 
who are to come after — it is for them to carry forward 
this government, and lift it to still greater achieve- 
ments. [Great applause.] 



XXVI. 

Rejiarks in the Chamber of Coimimerce, 
Cestcinnati, October 29, 1897. 

Ladies and Gentlemen : 

It gives me very sincere pleasure to be greeted once 
more by this representative body of business men, the 
Chamber of Commerce of Cincinnati. Of the many 
things that are gratifying to us in this country of ours, 
nothing gives me greater pleasure than the unity of 
feeling and the fraternal spirit everywhere manifested 
—in the North and in the South. Love of countrv, 
attachment to our free institutions, are everywhere 
apparent. 

But I am here not to speak, but to meet the public, 
which it will give me great pleasure to do. [Great ap- 
plause.] 



52 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



XXVII. 

Speech at the Dinner of the Co]\oiercial Club 
OF Cincinnati, Saturday, October 30, 1897. 

Members of the Commercial Club and Guests : 

Appreciating the purposes of tlie Commercial Club, I 
account myself fortunate to be its guest to-night, with 
the privilege of meeting old and valued friends, whose 
support and confidence have encouraged me and still 
encourage me in the performance of public duty, Cin- 
cinnati has for me the pleasantest associations and 
memories, and I may be pardoned if I have a feeling of 
home-coming as I stand in this presence in the chief 
city of the State where I was born, receiving your warm 
welcome, and knowing it to be sincere. 

There is even more that is gi'atifying to me in this 
assemblage, because it represents men of aU parties 
and creeds, united in a common aim, and a most 
worthy one — that of promoting good government and 
disseminating those ideas which will best insure the 
honor and prosperity of the country. We gain by in- 
telligent discussion of public questions carried on, in an 
organization like yours, not from a standpoint of par- 
tizanship, but of good citizenship. 

What will make the nation strongest and best ; what 
will make its citizenship the most useful and effective in 
government? These are inquiries ever pressing for 
answer with every thoughtful man. What will arouse 
public and private conscience to the just appreciation of 
our civic obHgations is the vital creed of your organiza- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 53 

tion and the deep concern of ns all. Nothing makes 
more for the government than intelligent and virtuous 
citizenship. It is the foundation of governmental suc- 
cess, and is essential to the highest destiny of the re- 
public. It should start in the home and be taught in 
the schools. It should have the inspii'ation of example 
in public and private stations. The public officer should 
illustrate it in his life and show it in the administration 
of his public duties. 

One great element in the strength of any government 
is the patriotism of its people, theii* love for its institu- 
tions, their pride for its name and achievements. This 
element finds a field for exceptional development in the 
United States. We have everything to inspire good 
citizenship, because we have equal and responsible citi- 
zenship. Responsible citizenship comes from direct 
participation in the conduct of the government, and 
imposes equal responsibility upon every citizen. If we 
could quicken and increase appreciation of this responsi- 
bility, and every citizen were made to feel its weight and 
importance, it would go far toward improving our 
political and national life. 

The government and people are inseparable under our 
system. We could not separate the government from 
the people if we would, and we would not if we could. 
This unity is the strength of our political structure. 
Our public policies and our public laws are properly 
determined by the people. The peojjle, therefore, have 
every incentive to noble purpose and right action in 
government. They are the beneficiaries of the govern- 
ment, and have every reason to love our institutions and 
regard our laws, because they make and support them. 
There is no greater enemy to free government than 



54 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

careless and indifferent citizenship ; there is no better 
friend than the vigilant, enlightened, and patriotic 
citizen. 

Not only are we interested in these fundamental ele- 
ments which constitute the national strength, but we 
have a deep interest in the material development of the 
country. No subject can better engage our attention 
than the promotion of trade and commerce at home 
and abroad. Domestic conditions are sure to be im- 
proved by larger exchanges with the nations of the 
world. We are ah-eady reaching out with good results. 
Our surplus products of agriculture and manufacture 
are finding a foreign market, and in the latter case to a 
degree which would not have been beheved possible a 
quarter of a century ago. We have made wonderful 
progress in this direction, and have only just begun. 
Our manufactured products go to every nation of the 
world, and I hope the time may be not far distant when 
our ships, under the Stars and Stripes, will be on every 
sea where commerce is carried and the wants of man- 
kind are to be supplied. 

Commerce is a teacher and a pacificator. It gives 
mankind knowledge one of another. Reciprocity of 
trade promotes reciprocity of friendship. Good trade 
insures good will. The heart as well as the mind con- 
tributes directly to the progress of mankind, and wher- 
ever we secure just and fair commercial relations with 
other nations we are sure to have with them friendly 
political relations. 

Abating none of our interest in the home market, let 
us move out to new fields steadily and increase the sale 
for our products in foreign markets. It should be our 
settled purpose to open trade wherever we can, making 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 55 

our ships and om- commerce messengers of peace and 
amity. 

The consular service of the government should be 
closely scrutinized and carefully officered, and we should 
have at every commercial port of the world a sensible 
and practical American who, while discharging all his 
other duties with honor to the government, will not omit 
in every proper way to promote American exchanges 
and' encourage reciprocal trade. 

Finally, if we are entering upon an era of prosperity \ 
such as many believe and all fervently hope for, re- \ 
membering our recent panic and financial experiences, 
we should strengthen the weak places in our financial 
system, and remove it forever from ambiguity and doubt. 



XXVIII. 

Speech to the Comimercial Travelers' Association 

AND ElVIPLOYEES OF DUEBER HEIGHTS, CaNTON, OhIO, 
NOVEIVIBER 1, 1897. 

Oentlemen of the Commercial Travelers' Association, and 
Employees of Bueher Heights, and my Fellow-Citizens : 
It gives me great pleasure to be back at my old home 
again, and to receive at the hands of my fellow-citizens 
the warm and cordial and, I am sure, heartfelt welcome 
with which they greet me to-night. I am glad to 
be assured by the spokesmen who have addressed me 
that these for whom they speak give approval to the 
national administration with which I have been asso- 
ciated by the partiality of your suffrages given last year. 
[Applause.] 



56 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

I assure yon, my fellow-citizens, that when I entered 
upon my public duties I had but one aim, but one 
purpose— the good of my country and the welfare of my 
countrymen. [Applause.] 

And nothing could be more gratifying to me, nothing 
could be more encoui'aging to me, nothing could stimu- 
late me to greater effort, than to be assured by fellow- 
citizens, as I have been assured by them to-night, that 
they are now employed and have steady work. [Pro- 
longed cheering.] 

I am deeply interested in the prosperity of my home 
city, and the greater the prosperity the greater wiU be 
my satisfaction. [Applause.] 

I will detain you in this inclement weather only long 
enough to assure you that from my heart I thank you 
for this generous welcome. [Great cheering.] 



XXIX. 

Address at the Carnegie Library, Pittsburg, 
Wednesday, Novejiber 3, 1897. 

Ladies and Gentlemen : 

It is a great pleasure for me now, as always, to visit 
Pittsburg, one of the great cities of a commonwealth 
closely in touch with my native State of Ohio, and its 
near neighbor, in whose borders I have so frequently and 
cordially been received. The people of the two communi- 
ties know one another well, and exemplify, as perfectly 
as can be found anywhere in the Union, that spirit of 
fraternal regard and free interchange of ideas and 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 57 

products whicli forms the very essence and glory of 
the American system of government. 

But to-day I have not come, as has often been the 
case, to discuss economic questions, but rather as an 
interested observer to witness in person and testify to 
that great and successful undertaking made possible by 
the munificence of one of your best-known citizens and 
the generous neighbors whom he has interested in his 
work. They have conferred upon the municipahty of 
Pittsburg the proud privilege of being noted not simply 
as one of the greatest industrial centers of the country, 
but hereafter to rank as one of the great literary, art, 
musical, and educational cities of the United States. 
But more than this and infinitely better : what has been 
done here, and all that still remains for the present and 
future generations to accomplish in perfecting this noble 
library and its allied branches of culture and enjoyment, 
is not planned simply for the select few, but the too 
often neglected many ; not for a favored class, but for 
the people and all of the people. All who love know- 
ledge, who ^ enjoy art, who believe in progress, whose 
aspirations are upward, are here welcome, and wiU find 
themselves at liberty to follow their chosen pursuits in 
response to the founder's inscription that his donation 
is and shall be "Free to the People." For such was 
this temple reared, magnificent in its proportions and of 
classic beauty, with a liberality of equipment and man- 
agement second to none either in the Old World or the 
New; and it will confer increasing and inestimable 
blessings not only upon this city and upon this State, 
but upon all the people of our country in all the years 
to come. It is a monument to the industry for which 
this city is justly famous, and the advice which I would 



58 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

leave with you and whicli I would have you always 
remember is— use it ! 

For this splendid movement for the welfare of the 
people, richer and more varied in its treasures to man- 
kind than we can now conceive, all of its departments 
of activity gathered together under one roof and con- 
ducted by a single, united, enthusiastic management, 
open to every student or citizen thirsting for knowledge, 
it is not too much to say that every man, woman, and 
child in this community is already under a heavy debt 
of gratitude which they can best discharge and only fit- 
tingly repay by availing themselves fully and freely of 
its blessings and benefits. The city itself, following the 
inspiring example of other great municipalities, has 
done wisely even from the standpoint of self-interest 
in adojiting the great library as a child of its corporate 
existence, so that every citizen, from the humblest to the 
most exalted, has a stake in its permanence and prosper- 
ity, forming a part of his life and contributing to its 
welfare. 

The free man cannot be long an ignorant man. The 
aspiration for knowledge is the corner-stone for learning 
and liberty. With true culture— not feigned or proud 
— comes goodness of heart, refinement of manners, gen- 
erosity of impulse, the Christian desire of helping others, 
and the Christian character of charity to all. Library 
study, musical instruction, the cultivation of art, and 
the serious contemplation of the wonders of nature in 
rare museum collections, are a source of delight and 
instruction to patrons and visitors, and they help to 
make a better citizenship, and in so doing constitute an 
impregnable bulwark for law and order. 

One of the most gratifying assurances which have come 



/ 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 59 

to me during my brief visit to this library to-day is that 
the real intentions of its promoters are already being 
realized beyond their highest expectations. Scarcely 
four years have passed since the work was begun, yet 
the people of Pittsburg have again and again demon- 
strated that they are worthy of the princely generosity, 
and are justifying the faith and purpose of those who 
bestowed it by making this a real help to higher and 
broader attainments. 

In no other nation could such a realization have been 
possible in so short a time. Europe and the Orient have, 
to be sure, their great libraries, rich galleries, wonderful 
museums, historical collections, and rare and ancient 
buildings of imposing grandeur, exquisite in architec- 
tural beauty and rejoicing in an ample financial endow- 
ment. Many of these contain priceless treasures of the 
ages, whose loss the world could never replace. They 
serve a noble purpose, they have enriched art, and will 
continue an inspiration to students of all lands. But 
none of them had such an advanced beginning as this. 
It is ever to the West, and more especially to our own 
wonderful country, that we must turn with amazement 
and increasing pride to witness the most rapid and 
triumphant march of progress, not only in the develop- 
ment of material resources, but in the comparative 
advancement and appreciation of the fine arts. 

Be not content with what you have or are. Continue 
the enterprise with the enthusiasm you have begun it. 
Be true to the best ideas of this great undertaking. Do 
not forget its main purpose. Make it useful to the 
community, yourselves, and your children. Let it be an 
object of special honor and concern to your city. You 
have my congratulations upon the result of your 



60 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

labors and my best -wislies for the continuance of their 
success. 

I am glad to be here to-day. I have enjoyed meeting 
with you. It is an honor to participate in any enter- 
prise which exalts our countrymen, which inspires them 
to higher endeavor and affords them greater oppor- 
tunity for culture and advancement. Everj'- move- 
ment for the edification and uplifting of tlie people is 
a factor in human destiny and a mighty force in our 
civihzation. May the favor of God accompany this and 
all such undertakings ! 



XXX. 

Speech at the Banquet of the National Associa- 
tion OF Manufacturers of the United States, 
AT the Waldorf- Astoria, New York, January 27, 
1898. 

Mr. Toastmasfer, Mewibers of the National Association of 
Manufacturers, and Guests : 

For the cordial character of this greeting I return my 
grateful thanks. The genuineness of your welcome is 
full compensation for ha\dng left .Washington at an 
unusually busy season in order to participate in this 
interesting meeting. 

I scarcely need remind you that we do not meet as 
strangers. Neither your business organization nor your 
social reunions are altogether unfamiliar to me. I have 
been with you before, not a guest, as now, but rather 
in the capacity of host. I recall that, as governor of the 
State of Ohio, it was my pleasure to welcome you to the 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 61 

city of Cincinnati on January 22, 1895, at tlie initial 
convention of the Manufacturers' Association. I well, 
remember the occasion. It was a cold day. You had 
lost everything but your pluck, or thought you had. 
Courage was the only friend your grief could call its 
own. I note with satisfaction your improved appearance 
now. You are more cheerful in countenance, more 
buoyant in spirit, more hopeful in manner, and more 
confident in purpose. Then, too, there are more of you 
here than there were at your first meeting. Distances 
are of course the same, but traveling has been resumed. 
Your speeches and resolutions at that first convention 
were directed mainly to the question of how to regain 
what you had lost in the previous years, or, if that 
was found impossible, then how to stop further loss. 
But your object now, as I gather it, is to go out and 
possess what you have never had before. You want to 
extend, not your notes, but your business. I sym- 
pathized with your purposes then ; I am in full accord 
with your intentions now. 

I ventured to say at the gathering referred to, as re- 
ported in your published proceedings, speaking both for 
your encouragement and from a profound conviction : 

This gi'eat country cannot be permanently kept in a state of 
relapse. I believe we will reoccupy the field temporarily lost to 
ns, and go out to the peaceful conquest of new and greater fields 
of trade and commerce. The recovery will come slowly, perhaps, 
but it will come, and when it does we will be steadier and will 
better know how to avoid exposure hereafter. 

I have abated none of the faith I then expressed, and 
you seem to have regained yours. 

National policies can encourage industry and com- 
merce, but it remains for the people to project and carry 



62 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

them on. If these policies stimulate industrial develop- 
ment and energy, the people can be safely trusted to do 
the rest. The government, however, is restricted in its 
power to promote industry. It can aid commerce, but 
not create it. It can widen and deepen its rivers, im- 
prove its harbors, and develop its great national water- 
ways ; but the ships to sail and the traffic to carry, the 
people must supply. The government can raise reve- 
nues by taxation in such a way as will discriminate in 
favor of domestic enterprises, but it cannot establish 
them. It can make commercial treaties opening to our 
manufacturers and agricultui-alists the ports of other na- 
tions. It can enter into reciprocal arrangements to 
exchange our products with those of other countries. 
It can aid our merchant marine by encouraging our 
people to build ships of commerce. It can assist in 
every lawful manner private enterprise to unite the two 
oceans with a great canal. It can do all these things, 
and ought to do them; but with all this accomplished 
the result will still be ineffectual unless supplemented 
by the energy, enterprise, and industry of the people. 
It is they who must build and operate the factories, 
furnish the ships and cargoes for the canal and the rivers 
and the seas. It is they who must find the consumers 
and obtain trade by going forth to win it. 

Much profitable trade is still unenjoyed by our people 
because of their present insufficient facilities for reach- 
ing desirable markets. Much of it is lost because of a 
lack of information and ignorance of the conditions and 
needs of other nations. We must know just what other 
people want before we can supply their wants. We 
must understand exactly how to reach them with least 
expense if we would enter into the most advantageous 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 63 

business relations with them. The ship requires the 
shipper ; but the shipper must have assured promise that 
his goods will have a sale when they reach their destina- 
tion. It is a good rule, if buyers will not come to us, 
for us to go to them. It is our duty to make American 
enterprise and industrial ambition, as well as achieve- 
ment, terms of respect and praise, not only at home, but 
among the family of nations the world over. 

There is another duty resting upon the national gov- 
ernment— "to coin money and regulate the value 
thereof." This duty requires that our government shall 
regulate the value of its money by the highest stan- 
dards of commercial honesty and national honor. The 
money of the United States is and must forever be un- 
questioned and unassailable. If doubts remain, they 
must be removed. If weak places are discovered, they 
must be strengthened. Nothing should ever tempt us— 
nothing ever will tempt us— to scale down the sacred 
debt of the nation through a legal technicality. What- 
ever may be the language of the contract, the United 
States will discharge all of its obligations in the cur- 
rency recognized as the best throughout the civilized 
world at the times of payment. 

Nor will we ever consent that the wages of labor or 
its frugal savings shall be scaled down by permitting 
payment in dollars of less value than the dollars accepted 
as the best in every enlightened nation of the earth. 

Under existing conditions our citizens cannot be ex- 
cused if they do not redouble their efforts to secure 
such financial legislation as will place their honorable 
intentions beyond dispute. All those who represent, as 
you do, the great conservative but progressive business 
interests of the country, owe it not only to themselves, 



64 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

but to tlie people, to insist upon the settlement of this 
great question now, or else to face the alternative that 
it must be again submitted for arbitration at the polls. 
This is our plain duty to inore than seven million voters 
who, fifteen months ago, won a great political battle on 
the issue, among others, that the United States govern- 
ment would not permit a doubt to exist anywhere con- 
cerning the stability and integrity of its currency, or the 
inviolability of its obligations of every kind. That is my 
interpretation of that victor^'. Whatever effort, there- 
fore, is required to make the settlement of this vital 
question clear and conclusive for all time, we are bound 
in good conscience to undertake and, if possible, realize. 
That is our commission— our present charter from the 
people. 

It will not suffice for citizens nowadays to say simply 
that they are in favor of sound money. That is not 
enough. The people's pui-pose must be given the vital- 
ity of public law. Better an honest effort with failiu-e 
than the avoiding of so plain and commanding a duty. 

The difficulties in the path of a satisfactory reform 
are, it must be admitted, neither few in number nor 
slight in degree ; but progress cannot fail to be made 
with a fair and thorough trial. An honest attempt will 
be the best proof of sincerity of purpose. Let us have 
full and free discussion. It cannot hurt, it will only help 
the cause. We are the last to avoid or evade it. Intelli- 
gent discussion will strengthen the indifferent and en- 
courage the friends of a stable system of finance. 

Half-heartedness never won a battle. Nations and 
parties without abiding principles and stern resolution 
to enforce them, even if it costs a continuous struggle 
to do so, and temporary sacrifice, are never in the high- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 65 

est degree successful leaders in the j^rogress of mankind. 
For us to attempt nothing in the face of the prevalent 
fallacies and the constant effort to spread them is to lose 
valuable ground already won, and practically to weaken 
the forces of sound money for their battles of the future. 
The financial plank of the St. Louis platform is still 
as commanding upon Republicans and those who served 
with them in the last campaign as on the day it was 
adopted and promulgated. Happily the tariff part of 
that platform has already been ingrafted into public 
statute. But that other plank, not already buHded into 
our legislation, is of binding force upon all of us. What 
is it ? It is sometimes well to consult our chart. What 
was the proclamation of 1896 ? 

The Eepublican party is unreservedly for sound money. It 
caused the enactment of a law providing for the resumption of 
specie payments in 1879 ; since then every dollar has been as good 
as gold. 

"We are unalterably opposed to every measure calculated to 
debase our currency or impair the credit of our country. We are 
therefore opposed to the free coinage of silver except by interna- 
tional agreement with the leading commercial nations of the 
earth, which agreement we pledge om-selves to promote ; and imtil 
such agreement can be obtained the existing gold standard must be 
maintained. All our silver and paper currency must be maintained 
at parity with gold ; and we favor all measures designed to main- 
tain inviolable the obligations of the United States, and all our 
money, whether coin or paper, at the present standard, the stan- 
dard of the most enlightened nations of the earth. 

This is in reality a command from the people who 
gave the administration to the party now in power, and 
who are still anxiously waiting for the execution of 
their free and omnipotent will by those of us who hold 
commissions from that supreme tribunal. 

5 



66 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

I have to-night spoken in a somewhat serious strain 
because I believe it is due both to the membership of 
this association and to the conditions under which this 
assemblage has met. The conferences and systematic 
efforts of such a body of men as this are capable of 
infinite good to the respective communities in which the 
members live, and to the nation at large. 

The country is now emerging from trying conditions. 
It is only just beginning to recover from the depression 
in certain lines of business, long continued and alto- 
gether unparalleled. Progress, therefore, will naturally 
be slow, but let us not be impatient. Rather let us exer- 
cise a just patience, and one which in time will surely 
bring its own high reward. 

I have no fear for the future of our beloved country. 
While I discern in its present condition the necessity that 
always exists for the faithful devotion of its citizens, 
the history of its past is assurance to me that its course 
will be as it al;ways has been through every struggle and 
emergency, still onward and upward. It has never suf- 
fered from any trial or been unequal to any test. 
Founded upon right principles, and ever faithful to 
them, we have nothing to fear from the vicissitudes 
which may lie across our pathway. The nation, founded 
by the fathers upon principles of virtue, morality, edu- 
cation, freedom, and human rights, molded by the great 
discussions which established its sovereignty, tried in 
the crucible of civil war, its integrity confirmed by the 
results of reconstruction, with a Union stronger and 
mightier and better than ever before, stands to-day, not 
upon shifting sands, but upon immovable foundations. 
Let us resolve, by our laws and by our administration 
of them, to maintain the rights of the citizen ; to cement 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 67 

the Union by still closer bonds ; to exalt the standards 
of American civilization, encourage the promotion of 
thrift, iudnstry, and economy, and the homely virtues 
which have ennobled our people ; uphold the stability of 
our currency and credit and the unstained honor of the 
government; and illustrate the purity of our national 
and municipal government : and then, though the rain 
descends and the floods come and the winds blow, the 
nation will stand, for it is founded upon a rock. 



XXXI. 

Address to the Officers and Students of the Uni- 
\t:rsity of Pennsylvania, Acadejmy of Music, Phila- 
delphia, February 22, 1898. 

Mr. Provost, Officers and Students of the University of 
Pennsylvania, Ladies and Gentlemen : 
We celebrate here, as in ever}'- part of our country, 
the birthday of a great patriot, who assured the begin- 
ning of a great nation. This day belongs to patriotism 
and the people. But in a certain sense the University of 
Pennsylvania has special reasons for honoring the 22d 
of February. For over half a century, with ever-in- 
creasing popularity and public recognition, you have 
observed the occasion either as a holiday or with pa- 
triotic exercises, participated in by faculty and students. 
No other American institution of learning has a prouder 
title to the veneration of Washington's memory than 
this, whose foundation was laid in colonial days, nearly 
fifty years before Pennsylvania became a State ; whose 
progress was largely due to the activity of Franklin and 



68 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

other zealous and far-seeing patriots ; and whose trustees 
were on terms of sufficient intimacy with Washington 
to congratulate him upon his election to the Presidency, 
and to receive from him a notable reply, which has 
passed into the history of the times. 

Washington, too, belonged to the brotherhood of the 
alumni of this institution, having accepted the degree of 
doctor of laws conferred upon him in 1783— an honor 
doubtless the more appreciated when he recalled the 
events which gave him close and peculiar attachment to 
the city of Philadeli^hia. 

No wonder that your great university has made the 22d 
of February its most impressive ceremonial, and devoted 
its annual exercises to special tributes to the memory of 
the first President of the United States, and the patriotic 
themes which cluster thickly about his life and work. 
I rejoice with you in the day. I rejoice, also, that 
throughout this broad land the birthday of the patriot 
leader is faithfully observed, and celebrated with an 
enthusiasm and earnestness which testify to the virtue 
and gratitude of the American people. 

It would not be possible, in the comparatively short 
time to which these exercises must to-day be limited, to 
follow Washington in his long and distinguished ser- 
vices at the head of the army and as Chief Executive of 
the government. My purpose is simply to call to your 
attention a few points in Washington's career which 
have singularly impressed me, and to refer to some 
passages in his writings that seem peculiarly appropri- 
ate for the guidance of the people, who, under our form 
of government, have in their keeping the well-being of 
the country. 

In its entirety Washington's public life is as familiar 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 69 

to the American student as the history of the United 
States. They are associated in holy and indissoluble 
bonds. The one is incomplete without the other; the 
one cannot be written without the other. Washington's 
character and achievements have been a part of the 
school-books of the nation for more than a century, and 
have moved American youth and American manhood to 
aspire to the highest ideals of responsible citizenship. 
With enduring fame as a great soldier, the world has rec- 
ognized his equal accomplishments in the paths of states- 
manship. As a soldier he was peerless in the times in 
which he lived, and as a statesman his rank is fixed with 
the most illustrious in any country or in any age. 

But with all our pride in Washington we not infre- 
quently fail to give him credit for his marvelous genius 
as a constructive statesman. We are constantly in 
danger of losing sight of the sweep and clearness of his 
comprehension, which accurately grasped the problems 
of the remote future and knew how to formulate the 
best means for their solution. It was committed to 
Washington to launch our ship of state. He had neither 
precedent nor predecessor to help him. He welded the 
scattered and at times antagonistic colonies into an in- 
destructible Union, and inculcated the lessons of mutual 
forbearance and fraternity which have cemented the 
States into still closer bonds of interest and sympathy. 

From the hour when Washington declared in his 
Virginia home that he would raise a thousand men and 
equip them at his own expense to march to the defense 
of Boston, he became the masterful spirit of the Con- 
tinental Army, and the mightiest single factor in the 
struggle for liberty and independence. Apparently 
without personal ambition, spurning royal honors 



70 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

when they were suggested to him, he fulfilled a still 
more glorious destiny as the guiding force of a civil- 
ization freer and mightier than the history of man had 
ever known. 

Though Washington's exalted character and the most 
striking acts of his brilliant record are too familiar to 
be recounted here, where so many times they have re- 
ceived eloquent and deserved eulogy, yet often as the 
story is retold it engages our love and admiration and 
interest. We love to recall his noble unselfishness, his 
heroic purposes, the power of his magnificent personality, 
his glorious achievements for mankind, and his stalwart 
and unflinching devotion to independence, liberty, and 
union. These cannot be too often told or too familiarly 
known. 

A slaveholder himself, he yet hated slavery, and pro- 
vided in his will for the emancipation of his slaves. Not 
a college graduate, he was always enthusiastically the 
friend of liberal education. He used every suitable 
occasion to impress upon Congress and the country the 
importance of a high standard of general education, 
and characterized the diffusion of knowledge as the 
most essential element of strength in the system of free 
government. That learning should go with liberty, and 
that liberty is never endangered so long as it is in the 
keeping of intelligent citizens, was the ideal civic code 
which his frequent utterances never failed to enforce. 

And how reverent always was this great man, how 
prompt and generous his recognition of the guiding 
hand of divine Providence in establishing and control- 
ling the destinies of the colonies and the republic ! 
Again and again— in his talks, in his letters, in his 
state papers and formal addresses— he reveals this side 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 71 

of liis character, the force of which we still feel, and, I 
trust, we always will. 

At the very height of his success and reward, as he 
emerged from the Revolution, receiving by unanimous 
acclaim the plaudits of the people, and commanding the 
respect and admiration of the civilized world, he did not 
forget that his first of&cial act as President should be 
fervent supplication to the Almighty Being who rules 
the universe. It is he who presides in the councils of 
nations, and whose providential aid can supply every 
human defect. It is his benediction which we most 
want, and which can and will consecrate the liberties 
and happiness of the people of the United States. With 
his help the instruments of the citizens employed to 
carry out their purposes will succeed in the functions 
allotted to public life. 

But Washington on this occasion went further and 
spoke for the people, assuming that he but voiced the 
sentiment of the young nation in thus making faith in 
Almighty God and reliance upon his favor and care 
one of the strong foundations of the government then 
inaugurated. And proceeding, Washington states the 
reasons for his belief in language so exalted that it 
should be graven deep upon the mind of every patriot : 

No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible 
hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of 
the United States. 

Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an 
independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some 
token of j)rovidential agency; and in the important revolution 
just accomplished in the system of their united government, the 
tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct 
communities, from which the events resulted, cannot be compared 
with the means by which most governments have been established, 



72 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble an- 
ticipation of the future blessings which the past seems to presage. 
These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced 
themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will 
join with me, I trust, in thinking that there are none under the in- 
fluence of which the proceedings of a new and free government 
can more auspiciously commence. 

The Senate of the United States made fitting response 
of its appreciation of this portion of the President's 
inaugural address when its members declared that "a 
review of the many signal instances of divine interven- 
tion in favor of this country claims our most pious grati- 
tude," and that they were ''unavoidably led to acknow- 
ledge and adore the great Arbiter of the universe, by 
whom empires rise and fall." Congress added its sanction 
by providing that, '' after the oath shall have been ad- 
ministered to the President, he, attended by the Vice- 
President and the members of the Senate and House of 
Representatives, proceed to St. Paul's Chapel to hear 
divine service, to be performed by the chaplain of Con- 
gress already appointed." 

Not alone upon days of thanksgiving or in times of 
trial should we as a people remember and follow the 
example thus set by the fathers, but never in our future 
as a nation should we forget the great moral and reli- 
gious principles which they enunciated and defended as 
their most precious heritage. In an age of great activ- 
ity, of industrial and commercial strife, and of perplex- 
ing problems, we should never abandon the simple faith 
in Almighty God as recognized in the name of the Amer- 
ican people by Washington and the First Congress. 

But if a timely lesson is to be drawn from the opinions 
of Washington on his assuming the office of President, 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 73 

so, also, is much practical benefit to be derived from the 
present application of portions of his Farewell Address, a 
document in which Washington laid down principles 
which appeared to him ''all-important to the perma- 
nence of your felicity as a people." 

In that address Washington contends in part (1) for 
the promotion of institutions of learning ; (2) for cher- 
ishing the public credit ; (3) for the observance of good 
faith and justice toward all nations. 

One hundi'ed years ago free schools were little known 
in the United States. There were excellent schools for 
the well-to-do and charitable institutions for the instruc- 
tion of boys and girls without means; but the free 
public school, open alike to the children of the rich and 
poor and supported by the State, awaited creation and 
development. The seed planted soon bore fruit. Free 
schools were the necessary supplement of free men. 
The wise and liberal provisions for public instruction 
by the fathers, second ouly in effect to their struggle 
for the independence and creation of the Union, were 
destined at no distant date to produce the most wonder- 
ful results. 

As the country has grown, education fostered by the 
State has kept pace with it. Rich as are the collegiate 
endowments of the Old World, none of them excel in 
munificence the gifts made to educational institutions by 
the people of the United States and by their govern- 
ments, in conformity with "• the influence which sound 
learning has on religion and manners, on government, 
liberty, and laws." Adams and Madison, Jefferson and 
Hamilton, Sherman and Trumbull, Hancock, Jay, Mar- 
shall, the Clintons, and many others of our early states- 
men were scarcely less earnest and eloquent than 



74 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

Washington himself in pleading the cause of sound and 
liberal education for the people. 

Nor does this seem surprising when we reflect that 
the truest aim and worthiest ambition of education is 
not finished scholarship for the favored few, but the 
elevation of a high standard of citizenship among the 
many, I have had peculiar satisfaction in the fact that 
Washington, in those early days, when engrossed with 
mighty governmental problems, did not forget his con- 
tributions for the education of the poor, and left in his 
will a bequest to be dedicated to free public instruction. 
Nothing better tells the value he placed upon knowledge 
as an essential to the highest and best citizenship. 

How priceless is a liberal education ! In itself what 
a rich endowment ! It is not impaired by age, but its 
value increases with use. No one can employ it but its 
rightful owner. He alone can illustrate its worth and 
enjoy its rewards. It cannot be inherited or purchased. 
It must be acquired by individual effort. It can be se- 
cured only by perseverance and self-denial. But it is 
free as the air we breathe. Neither race nor national- 
ity nor sex can debar the earnest seeker from its pos- 
session. It is not exclusive, but inclusive in the broadest 
and best sense. It is within the reach of all who really 
want it and are brave enough to struggle for it. The 
earnest rich and the worthy poor are equal and friendly 
rivals in its pursuit, and neither is exempted from any 
of the sacrifices necessary for its acquisition. The 
key to its title is not the bright allurements of rank 
and station, but the simple watchword of work and 
study. 

A liberal education is the prize of individual industry. 
It is the greatest blessing that a man or woman can 



■KTrrmrr 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 75 

enjoy, when supported by virtue, morality, and noble 
aims. But the acquirement of learning in our schools 
and colleges seems so easy that we are apt to under- 
estimate its value and let the opportunity to win it slip 
by, until regretfully we find that the chance is gone. 
The rudiments must be ingrafted in youth, or, with rare 
exceptions, they are forever lost. 

Life to most is a struggle, and there is little time for 
the contemplation of the theoretical when the practical 
is pressing at every hand. Stern duty monopolizes our 
time. The command of others controls our preferences 
and often defeats our intentions. By steadily adhering 
to a firm purpose amid the activities of life, we may keep 
in touch with the literature of the day ; but to go back 
to the classics, or to grapple with the foundations of the 
sciences, is beyond the power of most men when they 
have entered upon their chosen business or profession. 

One's mental fighting, often a hand-to-hand conflict 
with obstacles and temptations, is a battle of his own, a 
campaign whose motive force is individuality rather than 
circumstances or luck. Work in the mental world is as 
real as that in the physical world. Nor has any pre- 
scription yet been found to take the place of application 
and self-denial and personal struggles, which have given 
to the world its greatest leaders and noblest achieve- 
ments. 

'^ Cherish the public credit ! " How much both of 
reflection and instruction is combined in this simple 
admonition of the Father of his Country ! The United 
States emerged from the bitter and prolonged struggle 
of the Revolutionary War exhausted financially, and with 
a hundred existing perplexities and difficulties which 
remained to be solved before the financial credit of the 



76 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

new nation could be established at home and demon- 
strated abroad. 

But Washington knew how to gather around him, 
and place in positions of the greatest trust, the able 
financiers and economists whose names the country still 
venerates and whose great work it still enjoys. Hamil- 
ton and Morris and Gallatin and others were successful 
in establishing the Treasury and inaugurating the finan- 
cial operations of this government upon principles which 
recognized that the most enduring basis of national 
credit was national honor, and that whatever other 
assets we might have or acquire, that was indispensable, 
first, last, and all the time, if we would cherish the 
public credit. We have been fully rewarded all along 
our history by adhering to the principles of Washington 
in keeping the public faith. Before half a century had 
passed we had paid off our national debt and had a 
balance in the Treasury. Another debt, the greatest in 
our history, was incurred in the Civil War for the pres- 
ervation of the Union. But this did not exceed the 
resources or discourage the intentions of the American 
people. There were those who suggested repudiation, 
but the people repudiated them and went on unchecked, 
discharging the obligations of the government in the 
coin of honor. 

From the day our flag was unfurled to the present 
hour, no stain of a just obligation violated has yet tar- 
nished the American name. This must and will be as 
true in the future as it has been in the past. There will 
be prophets of evil and false teachers. Some part of 
the column may waver and wander away from the 
standard, but there will ever rally around it a mighty 
majority to preserve it stainless. 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 77 

At no point in his administration does Washington 
appear in grander proportions than when he enunciates 
his ideas in regard to the foreign policy of the govern- 
ment : " Observe good faith and justice toward all na- 
tions ; cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion 
and morality enjoin this conduct. Can it be that good 
policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of 
a free, enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great 
nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too 
novel example of a people always guided by an exalted 
justice and benevolence." 

To-day, nearly a century from Washington's death, we 
turn reverentially to study the leading principles of that 
comprehensive chart for the guidance of the people. It 
was his unflinching, immovable devotion to these per- 
ceptions of duty which more than anything else made 
him what he was and contributed so directly to make 
us what we are. Following the precepts of Washington 
we cannot err. The wise lessons in government which 
he left us it wiU be profitable to heed. He seems to 
have grasped all possible conditions and pointed the 
way safely to meet them. He has established danger- 
signals all along the pathway of the nation's march. 
He has warned us against false lights. He has taught 
us the true philosophy of '' a perfect union," and shown 
us the grave dangers from sectionalism and wild and 
unreasonable party spirit. He has emphasized the neces- 
sity at all times for the exercise of a sober and dis- 
passionate public judgment. Such judgment, my 
fellow-citizens, is the best safeguard in the calm of tran- 
quil events, and rises superior and triumphant above the 
storms of woe and peril. 

We have every incentive to cherish the memory and 



78 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

teachings of Washington. His wisdom and foresight 
have been confirmed and vindicated after more than a 
century of experience. His best eulogy is the work he 
wrought, his highest tribute is the great republic which 
he and his compatriots founded. From four millions 
we have grown to more than seventy millions of people, 
while our progress in industry, learning, and the arts 
has been the wonder of the world. What the future 
will be depends upon ourselves, and that that future will 
bring still greater blessings to a free people I cannot 
doubt. With education and morality in our homes, 
loyalt)'' to the underlying principles of free government 
in our hearts, and law and justice fostered and exem- 
plified by those intrusted with public administration, 
we will continue to enjoy the respect of mankind and 
the gracious favor of Almighty God. The priceless op- 
portunity is ours to demonstrate anew the enduring 
triumph of American civilization, and to help in the 
progress and prosperity of the land we love. 



XXXII. 

Address op the Powers in Regard to Existing Dip- 

FERBNCES WITH SpAIN, EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASH- 
INGTON, D. C, April 6, 1898. 

The undersigned, representatives of Germany, Aus- 
tria-Hungary, France, Great Britain, Italy, and Russia, 
duly authorized in that behalf, address in the name of 
their respective governments a pressing appeal to the 
feelings of humanity and moderation of the President 
and of the American people in their existing differences 
with Spain. They earnestly hope that further negotia- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 79 

tions will lead to an agreement which, while securing 
the maintenance of peace, will afford all necessary guar- 
anties for the reestablishment of order in Cuba, 

The Powers do not doubt that the humanitarian and 
purely disinterested character of this representation will 
be fully recognized and appreciated by the American 
nation. 
Washington, D. C, April G, 1898. 

(Signed) Julian Pauncefote, 

For Great Britain. 
(Signed) Holleben, 

For Germany. 
(Signed) Jules Cambon, 

For France. 
(Signed) v. Hengel3Iuller, 

For Austria-Hungaiy 
(Signed) Gr. de Wollant, 

For Russia. 
(Signed) G. C. Vinci, 

For Italy. 



Reply of the President. 

The government of the United States recognizes the 
good will which has prompted the friendly communica- 
tion of the representatives of Germany, Austria-Hungary, 
France, Great Britain, Italy, and Russia, as set forth in 
the address of your Excellencies, and shares the hope 
therein expressed that the outcome of the situation in 
Cuba may be the maintenance of peace between the 
United States and Spain by affording the necessary 
guaranties for the reestablishment of order in the 
island, so terminating the chronic condition of dis- 



80 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

turbance there, which so deeply injures the interests and 
menaces the tranquillity of the American nation by 
the character and consequences of the struggle thus 
kept up at our doors, besides shocking its sentiment of 
humanity. 

The government of the United States appreciates the 
humanitarian and disinterested character of the com- 
munication now made on behalf of the Powers named, 
and for its part is confident that equal appreciation 
will be shown for its own earnest and unselfish endea- 
vors to fulfil a duty to humanity by ending a situation 
the indefinite prolongation of which has become in- 
sufferable. 



XXXIII. 

Speech at Camp Wikopf, Montauk Point, New York, 
September 3, 1898, with Introductory Reiviarks 
BY Major-General Joseph Wheeler, U. S. V., Com- 
jyiANDiNG Fifth Ariviy-Corps. 

REMARKS OF MAJOR-GENERAL WHEELER. 

Brave Soldiers : 

The President of our great country has come here 
to-day to greet the division that marched so gallantly up 
San Juan hill on July 1. He comes to express the na- 
tion's thanks to these brave men, and every voice will 
echo the statement that there could be no greater honor 
for them than to incur again the same dangers and en 
dure the same hardships which they gloried in being 
privileged to undergo in the capture of Santiago. 

I want to tell you that when the President sent me 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 8i 

liere two weeks ago to command this camp, he enjoined 
me. in the most emphatic language, that, without regard 
to expense, I should exercise any and every authority 
necessary to add to your comfort and restore you to 
health. Since the 1st of July this brave body of men 
by their courage have helped to raise this great republic 
to the highest position among the nations of the earth. 
I now have the honor and pleasure of introducing to you 
the President of the United States. 



SPEECH OF THE PRESmENT. 

General Wheeler, Soldiers of Camp WiJcoff, Soldiers of the 
Fifth Army-Corps : 

I am glad to meet you. I am honored to meet the 
brave men who stand before me to-day. I bring you 
the gratitude of the nation, to whose history you have 
added, by your valor, a new and glorious page. You 
have come home after two months of severe campaign- 
ing, which has embraced assault and siege and battle, 
so brilliant in achievement, so far-reaching in results 
as to command the unstinted praise of all your country- 
men. 

You had the brunt of the battle on land. You bore 
yourselves with supreme courage, and your personal 
bravery, never before excelled anywhere, has won the 
admiration of your fellow-citizens and the genuine re- 
spect of all mankind, while the endurance of the soldier 
under peculiar trial and suffering has given an added 
meaning to American heroism. Your victories made 
easy the conquest of Porto Rico, under the resistless 
army commanded by Major-General Miles, and behind 



82 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

you, ready to proceed at a moment's summons, were 
more than two hundred thousand of your comrades, 
disappointed that the opportunity which you had did 
not come to them, but yet filled with pride at your well- 
earned fame and rejoicing with you upon your signal 
victories. You were on the line of battle ; they no less 
than you were in the line of duty. All have served 
their country in its hour of need ; all will serve it so 
long as they are required ; and all will forever have the 
thanks and regard of a grateful people. 

We cannot bid you welcome here to-day without oiir 
hearts going out to the heroes of Manila on sea and land, 
whose services and sacrifices, whose coiu-age and con- 
stancy, in that far-distant field of operations, have never 
been surpassed by any sailors or soldiers the world over. 
To the army and navy, to the marines, to the regulars, 
to the volunteers, and to that Providence which has 
watched over them all, the nation to-day is full of thanks- 
giving and praise. The names of the brave officers and 
men who fell in battle and of those who have died from 
exposure and sickness will live in immortal story. Their 
memories will be perpetuated in the hearts and history 
of a generous people; and those who are dependent 
upon them will not be neglected by the government 
for which they so freely sacrificed their lives. [Prolonged 
cheering.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 83 



XXXIV. 

Kemarks to the CoivonssiON Appointed to Investi- 
gate THE Administration of the War Department 
IN the Spanish- Ajvierican War, Executive Mansion, 
Septeiviber 26, 1898. 

Gentlemen : 

Before suggesting the matters which shall come 
before you for investigation, I desire to express my 
appreciation to each of you for your willingness to accept 
the patriotic service to which you have been invited. 

You are to perform one of the highest public duties 
that can fall to a citizen, and your unselfishness in 
undertaking it makes me profoundly grateful. 

There has been in many quarters severe criticism of 
the conduct of the war with Spain. Charges of criminal 
neglect of the soldiers in camp and field and hospital and 
in transports have been so persistent that, whether true 
or false, they have made a deep impression upon the 
country. It is my earnest desire that you shall thor- 
oughly investigate these charges, and make the fullest 
examination of the administration of the War Depart- 
ment in all of its branches, with the view to establishing 
the truth or falsity of these accusations. I put upon 
you no limit to the scope of your investigation. Of all 
departments connected with the army I invite the 
closest scrutiny and examination, and shall afford every 
facility for the most searching inquiry. The records of 
the War Department and the assistance of its officers 
shall be subject to your eall. 



84 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

I cannot impress upon 3^011 too strongly my wish that 
your investigation shall be so thorough and complete that 
your report, when made, shall fix the responsibility for 
any failure or fault, by reason of neglect, incompetency, 
or maladministration, upon the oificers and bureaus 
responsible therefor— if it be found that the evils com- 
plained of have existed. 

The people of the country are entitled to know whether 
or not the citizens who so promptly responded to the 
call of duty have been neglected or misused or mal- 
treated by the government to which they so willingly 
gave their services. If there have been wrongs com- 
mitted, the wrong-doers must not escape conviction and 
punishment. 

XXXV. 

Remarks at De Kalb, Illinois, October 11, 1898. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

It was no part of the program that I should be wel- 
comed by the people of De Kalb at this hour of the morn- 
ing, but I appreciate your generous welcome, and share 
with you in congratulations to our country and to your 
army and navy for the successful issues of the last four 
months. I am sure there has never been a time in our 
history when patriotism has been more marked or more 
universal than it is to-day, and the same high purpose 
which characterized the conduct of the people in war 
will influence and control them in the settlements of 
peace. [Great applause.] 



OF WILLIAM McEINLEY. 85 

XXXVI. 

Speech at Clinton, Iowa, October 11, 1898. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

I liave not fitting words to express my appreciation 
of this cordial welcome. We have gone from indus- 
trial depression to industrial activity. We have gone 
from labor seeking employment to employment seeking 
labor. [Applause.] We have abundant and unques- 
tionable currency the world over, and we have an un- 
surpassed national credit— better than it has ever been 
before in our history. 

We have, too, a good national conscience, and we have 
the courage of destiny. [Great applause.] We have 
much to be grateful for in the stirring events of the past 
six months. The army and navy of the United States 
have won not only praise, but the admiration of the 
world. [Cheers.] 

Our achievements on land and sea are without paral- 
lel in the world's history. During all these trying months 
the people of the United States have stood together as 
one man. North and South have been united as never 
before. [Applause.] People who think alike in a coun- 
try like ours must act together. That is what we have 
been doing recently, and we want to continue to act 
together until the fruits of our war shall be embodied 
in solemn and permanent settlements. [Applause.] 

We want no differences at home until we have settled 
our differences abroad [applause] ; when that is all done, 
we can have our little differences among ourselves. I 



86 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

am glad to be in the State of Iowa ; I am glad to meet 
and be greeted by your representatives in Congress 
and by your honored governor, and I need not tell you 
how glad I am to meet my old friend, your distinguished 
senator [Senator Allison]. [Great applause.] 



XXXVII. 

Remaeks at Dewitt, Iowa, October 11, 1898. 

Mij Fellow-Citizens : 

I cannot be indifferent to the very generous greeting 
that has been given me since I entered your great State, 
At every point j^our people have made me feel entirelj' 
at home. Indeed, there is no part of this glorious coun- 
try where every citizen may not feel at home. [Applause.] 

XXXVIII. 

Speech at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, October 11, 1898. 

Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

It gives me very great pleasure to meet the citizens of 
Cedar Rapids as we journej^ to the great Western city 
whither I go to celebrate with the people of the trans- 
Mississippi States the triumphs of their skill, their genius, 
and their industry. It is a fortunate situation that this 
people, while engaged in war, never neglect the indus- 
tries of peace. And while the war was going on and 
we were engaged in arms against a foreign foe, the in- 
dustries of the people went on, and their progress and 
prosperity were in no wise checked. [Great applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 87 

I go tliitlier, also, that I may celebrate witli my fellow- 
countrymeu of the West the progress of the war thus far 
made, the protocol already signed, and the suspension of 
hostilities, with the hope you and I entertain that, in 
the final settlements, the treaty may be one founded in 
right and justice and in the interest of humanity. 
[Applause.] This war, that was so speedily closed 
through the valor and intrepidity of our soldiers, will 
bring us, I trust, blessings that are now beyond cal- 
culation. [Applause.] It will bring also burdens, but 
the American people never shirk a responsibility and 
never unload a burden that carries forward civilization. 
We accepted war for humanity. We can accept no 
terms of peace which shall not be in the interest of 
humanity. [Great applause.] That hostilities have 
ceased upon terms so satisfactory to the people of the 
United States is cause for congratulation, and calls 
forth sentiments of gratitude to divine Providence for 
those favors which he has manifested unto us, and of 
appreciation of the army and navy for their brilliant 
victories. 

Such a celebration cannot but be helpful. It wiU en- 
courage love of country, and will emphasize the noble 
achievements of our soldiers and sailors on land and sea. 
War has no glories except it achieves them, and no 
achievements are worth having which do not advance 
civilization and benefit mankind. [Great applause.] 
While our victories in battle have added new honors to 
American valor, the real honor is the substantial gain 
to humanity. Out of the bitterness and woe, the priva- 
tions and sufferings and anxieties of the past five 
months, mil flow benefits to the nation which may be 
more important than we can now realize. 



88 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

No development of the war lias been more gratifying- 
and exalting than the complete unification of the nation. 
Sectional lines have been obliterated ; party differences 
have been hushed in the great chorus of patriotism which 
has been heard from one end of the country to the other. 
[Great applause.] To the Executive's call for volunteers 
no more prompt response was received than came from 
the patriotic people of the South and the West, and 
none was more patriotic than that of the people of 
Iowa. And when the orders were given to advance 
into a foreign territory, every soldier was disappointed 
whose regiment was not included in the orders to 
march. All were anxious to be with that portion of the 
army which was first to meet the enemy. Our grati- 
tude is boundless to these brave men, and the nation 
will hold them in perpetual memory. [Applause.] 

In paying tribute to the patriotism and valor of the 
men engaged in the war, we must not fail to give de- 
served praise to the nobility of the women. As in the 
war for independence and for the Union, they never 
hesitated or murmured, freely offering their best be- 
loved on the altar of their country. Husbands and sons 
went from every walk of life, even at personal self-sacri- 
fice in the struggle for support, and were not held back, 
but encouraged to respond to the sacred call of duty. 
Alert, generous, and practical in providing relief work, 
ministering where disease and death were most frequent 
in the camps and at the front, tenderly resigned and 
sublime in their submission and faith when death claimed 
the dearest of their household, the women of the United 
States, in all the nation's trials through which we have 
passed, have placed the government and the people under 
a debt of gratitude that they can never repay. [Great 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 89 

applause.] They have added new glory to the rare 
and exquisite qualities of American womanhood. [Pro- 
longed applause.] 



XXXIX. 

Speech at Belle Plaine, Iowa, October 11, 1898. 

My FeUoiv-Cifisens : 

I am glad to meet the constituents of your honored 
representative, Mr. Cousins. Iowa, following the rule 
of the old New England States, as well as of some of the 
Southern States, has gained great influence in the coun- 
cils of the nation by keeping men of experience on 
guard. And I want to say to this audience of Iowa 
people that through all the stirring months, from April 
to September, the President of the United States felt 
the constant and faithful support of Iowa's representa- 
tives in the Senate and House of Representatives. [Ap- 
plause.] Iowa is not only great in civil council, but 
she is never behind when the call is made to arms. Her 
sons in the recent war, as well as in the great Civil War, 
were among the first at the front. 

This war has taught us a great many lessons, and one 
of the most priceless connected with the conflict has 
been the triumph of our humanity. There have been 
touches of humanity in this recent war that will impress 
mankind for all time. In the words of the commander 
of the ship who said to his crew, '^ Don't cheer, the poor 
fellows are dying " ; when the commander of that other 
ship said to his crew, "Don't fire, the flag has gone 
down"; in the command of the colonel of the Rough 



90 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

Riders, " Don't swear ; fight ! " we seem almost to get a 
glance of the divine spark in the nobility of the men 
who participated in our war. [Great applause.] 

What we want, my fellow-citizens, is that the conclu- 
sion of this war, as written in public treaty, shall be a 
triumph for humanity. [Great applause.] 



XL. 

Speech at Tama, Iowa, October 11, 1898. 

Ladies and Gentlemen : 

It gives me peculiar pleasure to meet my fellow-citi- 
zens in the home county of the Secretary of Agriculture, 
and I feel very much like thanking aU of you for having 
contributed him to the country, for he has been a most 
valuable public servant in the administration of his great 
office. [Cheers.] 

From April to September have been important months 
for us, and during that time history has been made for 
the United States— made by the brave men from every 
State in the Union, North and South, on land and on 
sea ; and we have great cause for congratulation that 
hostilities were suspended at so early a date, and for 
the victory that came to our arms. 

Now, what we want to do as a nation— and I speak to 
all the people— is to see to it that in the final settlement 
of this controversy we shall have the glorious fulfil- 
ment of the best aspii-ations of the American people. 
We want to preserve carefuUy all the old life of the 
nation,— the dear old life of the nation and our cherished 
institutions,— but we do not want to shirk a single re- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 91 

sponsibility that has been put upon us by the results of 
the war. [Great applause.] 



XLI. 

Speech at Marshalltown, Iowa, October 11, 1898. 

My Fellow- Citizens : 

It is to me most gratifying to find the people taking 
an interest in their government. All power rests with 
them, and those of us who for the moment are selected 
to execute their will, are but their servants. No people 
have greater cause for pride in their government than 
those of the United States. And you will be glad to 
know that in credit your government never stood bet- 
ter than now. [Applause.] You will be glad to be re- 
minded that when it was necessary to raise money for 
the prosecution of the war, and a loan was sought of 
two hundi-ed millions of dollars, more than fourteen 
hundred millions were subscribed by the people of the 
United States [applause], and for the first time in our 
history your government— my government— sells a 
three-per-cent. bond, a bond which sold at par, which 
is now worth a premium of five cents on every doUar, 
v/hich profit has gone to the people. For it was a pop- 
ular loan, and no citizen was able to receive more than 
five thousand dollars' worth of bonds. [Applause.] 

I am always glad, my f eUow-citizens, to meet with the 
people. They make the public sentiment of the country, 
and it is the public sentiment of the country that gov- 
erns the country. The best sentiment, the holiest senti- 
ment, comes from the American homes— the plain homes 



i^ 



92 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

where vii-tue resides ; and a home life, a family life, lies 
at the very foundation of this popular government of 
ours. As long as we keep the homes pure, so long will 
we keep our government pure. [Applause.] 

I see a number of old soldiers about me. I am glad 
to meet them. I see some of the young soldiers about 
me. I am glad to meet them. The Grand Army of the 
Republic will be increased, and there will be two hun- 
dred and twenty thousand soldiers eligible for admission 
into the Grand Army of the Republic, made so by the 
recent war with Spain, and we welcome them, for they 
are our comrades. They did just as the old soldiers of 
the other volunteer army did— they did their whole duty, 
and were willing to bare their breasts to the enemy's 
bullets, and sacrifice their lives, if need be, for the honor 
of the government of the United States. [Applause.] 
No more splendid army was ever mustered beneath any 
flag than the army of the United States, numbering two 
hundred and sixty thousand men, mustered inside of 
sixty days. And in one hundred and thirteen days 
hostilities were suspended. And we are all of us pray- 
ing in our hearts and in our homes that the peace which 
shall be finally secured shall be as humane and as honor- 
able and as just as has been the prosecution of the war. 
[Great applause.] 

XLII. 

Speech at Aimes, Iowa, October 11, 1898. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

I am glad to meet you as I have been meeting thou- 
sands of your fellow-citizens on our journey through 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 93 

your State and to be at the seat of the Agricultural 
College of Iowa. One of the wisest things this govern- 
ment ever did was to make ample provision for these 
great agricultural and educational institutions through- 
out the land. We have more than half a hundred of 
them now, attesting the far-sightedness and sagacity 
of the Congress of the United States. In a govern- 
ment like ours citizenship is always improved by edu- 
cation, and the pride and glory of the nation is that 
the school-room has an open door for every boy and girl 
of the land. And one of the encouraging things in 
this country is that the poorest boy in the land may 
aspire to the highest place in the government of the re- 
public. The citizenship that comes out of the schools of 
the country is the hope of the country. When our war 
commenced in 1861 —the Civil War— the young men from 
the schools and universities in every part of the North 
enlisted under the banner of liberty. When our recent 
war with Spain commenced, the young men from the 
schools and the colleges, and from the universities, and 
from every rank and station in life, enlisted to carry 
forward that banner of glory into a foreign land, and 
die, if need be, for the honor of the republic. [Great 
applause.] It is a glorious citizenship we have. It meets 
every emergency and responds to every crisis in the life 
of the nation. The American people have never failed, 
no matter how great the emergency, no matter how 
grave the crisis, to measure up to the highest respon- 
sibilities of honor and duty. [Great applause.] 

We have much to be grateful for. No nation in 
the world has more cause for profound thankfulness 
than the American nation to-day. We have passed 
through a foreign war. No one knew at its beginning 



94 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

what its results might immediately be. We all knew 
what its results must ultimately be, but we did not 
know how much it would cost in life or treasure to se- 
cure these results. At the end of less than four 
months hostilities were suspended, and one half of the 
army that volunteered to fight the battles of the country 
were mustered out and returned to their homes. And 
then what results have been accomplished for humanity, 
for civilization, against oppression ! [Great applause.] 
Of which results we need not speak now, for these results 
are yet unknown and unwi-itten. 

All we can do as a people in the present situation is 
just what we have done in the last four months : stand 
together and be wise and respond to duty— the respon- 
sibility of duty, however grave that may be. [Great ap- 
plause.] 

XLIII. 

Speech at Boone, Iowa, October 11, 1898. 

My Fellow- Citizens : 

During this day I have been made very deeply sensible 
of the manifestations of good will from the people of 
Iowa that have followed me all along my journey through 
your State. I do not misinterpret its meaning. I know 
how little, if anything, there is personal in it. I know 
you are showing your respect for the great office of 
President of the United States, an office which, fortu- 
nately for us, always, in every administration,— no matter 
who has administered it,— has commanded the respect of 
the whole American people. We are fortunate to-day, 
more fortunate than we have been for more than half a 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 95 

century, in having an undivided and indivisible and 
united nation. [Applause.] 

Every section of this country loves the old flag dearly, 
and we have but one flag, and that the glorious Stars and 
Stripes. [Applause.] It is a sight inspiring to behold 
that in our war the troops of the North brigaded with 
the troops of the South ; that Iowa troops were brigaded 
with the troops of Georgia, and commanded by that 
distinguished ex-Confederate, whose name is so familiar 
in the annals of the Civil War, so that once more we 
were all together. We were all together in the fight ; 
we must be all together in the conclusion. [Cheers.] 
This is no time for divided councils. This is the solemn 
hour demanding the highest wisdom and the best states- 
manship of every section of our country, and, thank 
God, there is no North, no South, no East, no West, 
but all Americans forever. [Great applause.] 

The only great danger for this people is that now and 
then they become indifferent. Indifferent citizenship is 
always unfortunate ; it is always unfortunate to be in- 
different to a party, but it is more unfortunate to be 
indifferent to principle. In the United States we have 
grown to have convictions, and we have come to know 
how to put these convictions into public law and public 
administration. If I would have you remember any- 
thing I have said in these desultory remarks, it would 
be to remember at this critical hour in the nation's his- ) 
tory we must not be divided. The triumphs of the war J 
are yet to be written in the articles of peace. [Great 
applause.] 



96 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



XLIV. 

Speech at Carroll, Iowa, October 11, 1898. 

3Iy Fellou'-Cifisens ; 

I am glad to meet the people of Carroll, and read in 
your cheerful faces that you are fairly well satisfied with 
your own condition and that of the country. We have 
been having for the past five months very stirring 
events, and, fortunately for us, we have been triumphant. 
Providence has been extremely kind to the American 
people— kind not only in the recent conflict of arms, 
but in every step and stage of our history from its very 
beginning until now. We have been singularly blessed 
and favored. The past of our country is secure, and it 
is glorious. It is the future with which we have to deal ; 
and if we shall be as wise as our fathers, then this gov- 
ernment will be carried on successfully by their sons. 

Just at this hour, although hostilities have been sus- 
pended, we are confronted with the gravest national 
problems. It is a time for the soberest judgment and 
the most conservative and considerate action. As we 
have stood together in the war, so we must stand to- 
gether until the results of that war shall be written in 
peace. [Great applause.] I am here journeying to the 
city of Omaha, glad of the opportunity to pay my re- 
spects to the people of Iowa, and to congratulate them 
upon the valor of the American army and na\'y, and 
upon the prosperous condition of the country. 

We have a great country— we will be excused if we 
say the greatest country in the world ; great in its pos- 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 97 

sibilities, great in its opportunities. And with these 
rest upon all of us great responsibilities. I trust that 
we will be able to meet them and to measure up to every 
opportunity of honor and duty. [Loud and prolonged 
applause.] 

XLV. 

Speech at Denison, Iowa, October 11, 1898. 

My Felloiv- Citizens : 

I am both gratified and honored to meet my country- 
men at the home of the governor of the State of Iowa. 
I remember with w^hat satisfaction, in response to the 
first call of the Executive for troops, I received his mes- 
sage saying that Iowa was ready to furnish any number 
of troops to sustain the honor and dignity of the govern- 
ment of the United States. I remember, also, at the 
conclusion of hostilities, when the time had come for 
the muster out of a part of that great volunteer army, 
he said, speaking for all the people of all the State, that 
Iowa's troops would remain just as long as the govern- 
ment of the United States needed them. [Loud and 
prolonged cheering.] 

I am glad, also, to meet the constituents of my honored 
and eloquent friend, your representative in the Congress 
of the United States [Representative Dolliver]. I have 
known him long and well, and I am sure this district 
honors itself in having so distinguished a representative 
at the seat of government. 

This is an era of patriotism. There are no party 
lines. Partizanship has been hushed, and the voice of 
patriotism alone is heard throughout the land. Never 



98 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

was there a more united people. Never since the begin- 
ning of the government itself were the people of this 
country so united in aim and purpose and hope as at the 
present hour. As they were united in the war, so they 
will be united until peace finally comes — a peace founded 
upon right and justice and humanity. [Great applause.] 

We have much to be grateful for in other directions 
than our martial achievements. We have much to be 
grateful for because of the condition of the country. 
We have a fair share of prosperity in the field and the 
factory. Business looks hopeful and assuring every- 
where, and our credit balances show the progress which 
the country is making. In 1892, six years ago, we sent 
more products out of the United States than we had ever 
sent before. This year we have sent more products to 
Europe, receiving in paj^ment their good gold, than were 
ever shipped there out of the United States in a single 
year of our history. [Great applause.] One billion two 
hundred million dollars' worth of American products, the 
production of your fields and your labor, went out of the 
United States this year, and more than eight hundred 
million dollars of that sum were made up of agricultural 
products, while our importations, or what we bought 
abroad, were only about one half of what we sold abroad, 
leaving a large balance in our favor. This is a cause of 
congratulation from one end of the country to the 
other, for if there is any one thing that makes the 
people contented and happy, it is to have a fair share 
of prosperity. [Great applause.] 

And now, my fellow-citizens, thanking you as I have 
thanked the hundreds of thousands of people who have 
greeted me to-day in your State with a cordial and 
hearty welcome, I bid you all good night. 



OF WILLIAM McKIXLEY. 99 

XLVI. 

Remarks at Logan, Iowa, October 11, 1898. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

I have had to-day so many exhibitions of Iowa's kind- 
ness and hospitality that I shall leave the State with very 
great regret. At every point of my journey I have been 
welcomed by the peoj^le with a heartiness and a cordial- 
ity which, I assure you, have profoundly touched me. I 
am glad to see that wherever I have been the people of 
this goodly State are prosperous and happy, and that 
they love the government and love the flag. [Great ap- 
plause.] 

XLATI. 

. Speech at Missouri Valley, Iowa, 
October 11, 1898. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

No one with my experience of to-day, meeting hun- 
dreds of thousands of people in your State and in the 
State of Illinois, can have doubt as to the strength and 
spirit of popular government. This government of ours 
is safe in the hands of its people, because they have no 
other aim but the public good, and no other purpose but 
to attain for the government the highest destiny and 
the greatest prosperity. I have been glad to note all 
along the line of my journey evidences of substantial 
prosperity in every walk and field of human energy, and 



100 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

I congratulate you upon your material advancement 
and the high standard of this people and this govern- 
ment, not only in the estimation of its own citizens, but 
in the estimation of the world. 

The grave problems that are before us must be settled. 
If we will only pursue the right, following duty at what- 
ever cost, the ends reached will be for the honor and 
glory of our beloved country. I rejoice to know, as I 
do know, that in the contest that is now stayed, and 
the problems which are to follow, the American people 
will act together as one man— act together not only 
for the good of our own country, but for the good of 
other peoples, in relation to whom the war has imposed 
a duty upon us. [Great applause.] 



XLVIIL 

Address at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition at 
OiViAHA, Nebraska, October 12, 1898. 

Mr. President , Gentlemen of the Trans-Mississippi Expo- 
sition, and Fellow-Citizens : 
It is with genuine pleasure that I meet once more the 
people of Omaha, whose wealth of welcome is not alto- 
gether unfamiliar to me, and whose warm hearts have 
before touched and moved me. For this renewed mani- 
festation of your regard, and for the cordial reception of 
to-day, my heart responds with profound gratitude and 
a deep appreciation which I cannot conceal, and which 
the language of compliment is inadequate to convey. 
My greeting is not alone to your city and the State of 
Nebraska, but to the people of all the States of the 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 101 

Trans-Mississippi group participating here, and I cannot 
■withliold congratulations on the evidences of their 
prosperity fui-nished by this great exposition. If testi- 
mony were needed to estahlish the fact that their 
pluck has not deserted them, and that prosperity is 
again with them, it is found here. This picture dispels 
all doubt. [Applause.] 

In an age of expositions they have added yet another 
magnificent example. [Applause.] The historical celebra- 
tions at Philadelphia and Chicago, and the splendid ex- 
hibits at New Orleans, Atlanta, and Nashville, are now 
part of the past, and yet in influence they still live, and 
their beneficent results are closely interwoven with our 
national development. Similar rewards will honor the 
authors and patrons of the Trans-Mississippi and Inter- 
national Exposition. Their contribution will mark an- 
other epoch in the nation's material advancement. 

One of the great laws of life is progress, and nowhere 
have the principles of this law been so strikingly illus- 
trated as in the United States. A century and a decade 
of our national life have tm-ned doubt into conviction, 
changed experiment into demonstration, revolutionized 
old methods, and won new triumphs which have chal- 
lenged the attention of the world. This is true not only 
of the accumulation of material wealth, and advance in 
education, science, invention, and manufactures, but, 
above all, in the opportunities to the people for theii* 
own elevation, which have been secured by wise free 
government. 

Hitherto, in peace and in war, with additions to oiu* 
territory and slight changes in our laws, we have steadily 
enforced the spirit of the Constitution secured to us by 
the noble self-sacrifice and far-seeing sagacity of our 



102 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

ancestors. We have avoided the temptations of con- 
quest in the spirit of gain. With an increasing love for 
our institutions and an abiding faith in theii* stability, 
we have made the triumphs of our system of government 
in the progress and the prosperity of our people an in- 
spiration to the whole human race. [Applause.] Con- 
fronted at this moment by new and grave problems, we 
must recognize that their solution will affect not our- 
selves alone, but others of the family of nations. 

In this age of frequent interchange and mutual de- 
pendence, we cannot shirk our international responsi- 
bihties if we would ; they must be met with courage and 
wisdom, and we must follow duty even if desire opposes. 
[Applause.] No deliberation can be too mature, or self- 
control too constant, in this solemn hour of our history. 
We must avoid the temptation of aggression, and aim 
to secure only such results as will promote our own 
and the general good. 

It has been said by some one that the normal condi- 
tion of nations is war. That is not true of the United 
States. We never enter upon a war until every effort 
for peace without it has been exhausted. Ours has 
never been a military government. Peace, with whose 
blessings we have been so singularly favored, is the na- 
tional desire and the goal of every American aspiration. 
[Applause.] 

On the 25th of April, for the first time for more than 
a generation, the United States sounded the call to arms. 
The banners of war were unfurled ; the best and bravest 
from every section responded ; a mighty army was en- 
rolled ; the North and the South vied with each other in 
patriotic devotion [great applause] ; science was invoked 
to furnish its most effective weapons ; factories were 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 103 

ruslied to supply equipment ; the youth and the veteran 
joined in freely offering their services to their country ; 
volunteers and regulars and all the people rallied to the 
support of the republic. There was no break in the line, 
no halt in the march, no fear in the heart [great ap- 
plause] ; no resistance to the patriotic impulse at home, 
no successful resistance to the patriotic spirit of the 
troops fighting in distant water or on a foreign shore. 
[Continued applause.] 

What a wonderful experience it has been from the 
standpoint of patriotism and achievement ! The storm 
broke so suddenly that it was here almost before we 
realized it. Our navy was too small, though forceful with 
its modern equipment, and most fortunate in its trained 
officers and sailors. Our army had years ago been 
reduced to a peace footing. We had only twenty-eight 
thousand available troops when the war was declared, 
but the account which officers and men gave of them- 
selves on the battle-field has never been surj)assed. The 
manhood was there and everywhere. American pa- 
triotism was there, and its resources were limitless. The 
courageous and invincible spirit of the people proved 
glorious, and those who a little more than a third of a 
century ago were divided and at war with each other 
were again united under the holy standard of liberty. 
[Great applause.] Patriotism banished party feeling; 
fifty millions of dollars for the national defense were 
appropriated without debate or division, as a matter of 
course and as only a mere indication of our mighty re- 
serve power. [Great applause.] 

But if this is true of the beginning of the war, what 
shall we say of it now, with hostilities suspended, and 
peace near at hand, as we fervently hope ? Matchless 



104 SPEECHZS AST) ADDBESSES 

in :'? ir? iIts [Great applause.] T^r , ; ! 1 in its 

-- ' riirss and the quick saccession vrizL t/ ;li vie- 

■ r : - — 1 r'ltoiy! Attained earli-: :1^ _ i: —as 

r-i- V . : ^ --/ole; so comprehensive in its sweep 

thai eveiy :„ _\.:: i2 man feels the weight of responsi- 
bility wL::"_ L ^ >_ ; : sr^ddenlv thmst npon ns. And 
above ^V. :: I r :_1 :" tlie v?] r ^f the American 
aimy . :„. r. .. " : :„r A:.. . ,n navy and the 
majc-:." : :_- .-^:_-rr:::;i. i.:-.n-r s:a: 1 : I'l. in nnsnllied 
giorv, while the humanity ci : :: ; : - and the mag- 
- : : f onr condnct have given to war. always hor- 

n'lr. : 1 _;- of noble generosity. Christian sympathy 

'-I :!.:,::- ::il examples of human gnviiriir whica 



uur inipe. 



J.L 



is £rrs,:^v:„j -.. i^el that hTucanlrv 



&■ 



iri_L:i-;ul-I at eveiy step •:; :„.- "^ar's progress. Ap- 
plause.] 

The t-Tr^ ^: I'lc-l-. ::::.:. Sa:.-:.^: u^d P':rto Eico 
haTe mai-r ii::::: ^rtal hist'^iy. TLev are ^orthv succes- 
sors an'I ^- -:_ l.,:.-- o: Washington ani Gre-ne : of 
Panl Jones. I'-r::„-:r. ai. I Ev/i, and of Gran:, .•^i-rridan, 

of Lee, Ja';v:- " a. aa i L :ar-::a-:a Tr aa_ a " ' ■.:^ a: r"aa^>/ 

Hewnaa.-r- --:-al '■: 'a i^-a-a :-_ i : :".-: nation's 

great men "aja.aa--:^, ,,_- :. ^v-;. i_ aa aaa:;,a_va. s'and 

the here es :: :ir ":a aaav- :A :!.: ^ a-::a-:le. invin:: 1-r 

in bsa - " : a a an a : : a : a ; atk [Great applause.] 

T: - .rentj loyalj in a . Idier and sailor and 

regular and volunteer, are entitled to eqnal 

praise as having done :aeir whole duty, whether at 

home or nnder the >jl n :* : reign fire. [Applause.] 

Who will dim the ^pi nl.r of their achievements I 



OF vrilZAl-l McETSXZT. 105 

Who will -vritUiold. from them their well-earned distme- 
tion? Wlio •will intmde detraction at this tine t: be- 
little the manly spirit of the American yon-h :,i. i in: lir 
the usefulness of the American armT? ^^: — 11 -n- 

barrass the government by sowing seeas : .:-- .:i;n - 
tion among the brave men who staii . : . .. y : serve 
and die. if need be. for their country ? "^:: : -vi^ iir^en 
the counsels of the republic in this ho::r. r: ::r the 

united wisdom of all ? X'heers .._ 1 - . . : j . . ^ . 

Shall we deny to ourselves what the rcs: i '.^- ~: :. . 
so freely ar. i so justly a : : is to us? - • jiy c: 

-Xol"' The men who ^i. ■ ;:?i "n rh- s„ :: -t ie- 
cisive straggle its hardships, its priv::: :. = -^ v, . n 
field or camp, on ship or in the siege. :n . - : . n..: 
achieved its victories, will never tolerate ii ; ..nm. 
either direct or indirect, of those vrhj ^ : z i - ; - ~_ se 
great gain to civilization is yet iiimi'^'n. :n . ;'-.^^rr:Ttrii. 
[Tremendous applause.] 

The faith of a Christian nation recognizes the hizi 
of Almighty God ia thv ;rdeal through which we hiive 
passed. Divine favor seenei nmi'es* e~:~-~v:iere. In 
fighting for humanity's s:hie ~-r '..: } ' r^ -:_n:ih" 
blessed. We did not seek vrai\ T . :, v . . 1 1; . ii :L : - ; : vh .1 
be done in honor and justice to the rights of c-.i iii^n- 
bors and ourselves, was our constant prayer. The war 
was no more invited by us than were the questions which 
are laid at our door by its results. [Grea: i — 

y 1 w as then we will do our duty. ' ' -a - ' v ■ : I :i y : . ;. i: ; r 
The problems will nc t " - s he i h-i a day. F .: > :: :e wi_ 
be required— patienov ;i." ::.^ i "h-h sh: : ' ■ i rur- 



oOiigation. T .iisii::.^ lo 



'.. ,*.t *» 



106 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

Right action follows right purpose. We may not at 
all times be able to divine the future, the way may not 
always seem clear ; but if our aims are high and unself- 
ish, somehow and in some way the right end will be 
reached. The genius of the nation, its freedom, its 
wisdom, its humanity, its courage, its justice, favored 
by divine Providence, will make it equal to every task 
and the master of every emergency. [Long-continued 
applause.] 

XLIX. 

Remarks on Leaving Ojiaha, Nebraska, 
October 13, 1898. 

3Iy Fellow-Citizens : 

You have done so much in the past twenty-four hours 
that it will make my visit here one long to be remem- 
bered. Nothing has pleased me more than the good 
feeling and earnest patriotism everywhere exhibited. 
I see that here in Nebraska, as in every other State in 
the Union, everybody loves the government and the flag, 
and I cannot tell you how hard it is for me to bid you 
all good-by. [Great applause.] 



Speech at Council Bluffs, Iowa, October 13, 1898. 

3Iy Fellow-Citizens: 

I am very much gratified at your reception. I have 
just come from the great city of the West, and have 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 107 

■witnessed a "wonderful exhibition of your genius and 
skill and industry, as sliown at the Trans-Mississippi 
Exposition. Nothing has given me greater satisfaction, 
as I have joiu-neyed through the country, than to look 
into the cheerful faces of the people, and to be assured 
from their appearance that despaii* no longer hangs over 
the West, but that you are having a fair share of pros- 
perity, and not only that, but you are having a baptism 
of patriotism, in which we all rejoice. [Great applause.] 



LI. 

Speech at Glenwood, Iowa, October 13, 1898. 

My Felloiv-Gitizens : 

I am very glad to meet you and greet you here this 
morning. I need not say that I like the flag that you 
carry. Whenever you put that flag in the hands of the 
boys and the girls you put patriotism in their hearts. 
There are two strong and marked phases in the war with 
Spain. The one is its heroism, and the other its hu- 
manity. The individual valor of the soldier and the 
sailor has never been surpassed. Both at Manila and 
Santiago, with Dewey's fleet and Sampson's squadron, 
there were distinguisliing exhibitions of personal valor 
and intrepidity which thrilled all our hearts. So with 
the land forces at San Juan and El Caney and Manila ; 
so with the marines at Guantanamo. This is the heroic 
side. 

The other is the humanitarian side. The first ship 
to enter the harbor of Santiago after the surrender of 
the Spanish forces and army to General Shafter was a 



108 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

ship carrying tlie Red Cross flag and laden with food and 
provisions and medicines for the suffering inhabitants of 
that land. And so all through the war we have mingled 
with our heroism our splendid and glorious humanity. 
There was no malice in our conflict, there was no 
bitterness or resentment connected with it, and when it 
was all over we treated our foe as generously as we could 
have treated a friend. All this must be inspiring to the 
American people. We are a great people. We love 
peace, not war ; but when we go to war we send to it the 
best and bravest of the country. And Iowa, in this war, 
as in the great Civil War, contributed her share of pa- 
triotic boys to fight the battles of our country. [Great 
applause.] 

LII. 

Speech at Malvern, Iowa, October 13, 1898. 

My Felloiv- Citizens : 

In the moment that I shall be permitted to stop with 
you I desire to thank you for the cordial reception 
you have given me this morning. I cannot but recall, 
as I journey through the country, the difference between 
conditions now and those of thirty-seven years ago. 
Then we were at war with each other, one section of 
our beloved country fighting against the other ; then the 
contest was for the preservation of the Union, and in 
that conflict we happily triumphed. Thirty-seven years 
later we are engaged in another war, not as a divided 
country, but as a united country. North and South vy- 
ing with each other in self-sacrificing devotion to the 
country and flag ; and united, my fellow-countrymen, we 



OP WILLIAM McKINLEY. 109 

are invincible, and having stood together against a for- 
eign foe, we must stand together until every settlement 
of that war shall be finally embodied in a public treaty. 
[Great applause.] 

LIII. 

Rejiarks at Hastings, Iowa, October 13, 1898. 

3fy Fellow- Citizens : 

It has given me great pleasure, as I have journeyed 
through your State, to observe evidences both of pa- 
triotism and of prosperity. We have pretty much 
everything in this country to make it happy. We have 
good money, we have ample revenues, we have unques- 
tioned national credit ; but we want new markets, and 
as trade follows the flag, it looks very much as if we 
were going to have new markets. [Applause.] 



LIV. 

Speech at Red Oak, Iowa, October 13, 1898. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

What nation of the world has more to be thankful for 
than ours ? We have material wealth, we have rich and 
fertile lands, we have great shops and great factories 
that make everything. We have skilled workmen, we 
have genius for invention, and in the last thirty years 
we have achieved commercial triumphs which have been 
the wonder of the world. We have much to be thank- 
ful for. We have come out of events of the last five 



110 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

months glorious in our victories, and more glorious in 
the results which are to follow them. We are fortunate 
in the virtue of our people and in the valor of our sol- 
diers and sailors. 

We have been patriotic in every crisis of our history, 
and never more so than from April, 1898, to the present 
hour. But our patriotism must be continued. We 
must not permit it to abate, but we must stand 
unitedly until every settlement of the recent contest 
shall be written in enduring form, and shall record a 
triumph for civilization and humanity. [Great applause.] 

I am glad to be at the home of that gallant young 
hero who went down in the harbor of Havana, Engineer 
Merritt. I am glad to pay a fitting tribute to him and 
to all the other heroes of the war. His name and his 
fame will be sacredly guarded by his own neighbors and 
fellow-citizens, and will always be held in remembrance 
by a grateful people. [Great applause.] 



LV. 

Speech at Corning, Iowa, October 13, 1898. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

It gives me great pleasure to meet you all and 
be greeted by you as I pass through Iowa. We have 
been seeing something in the last forty-eight hours of 
the vastness and the wealth of this mighty empire of 
the West, and I congratulate you upon the evidences of 
prosperity and of progress that have been constantly 
presented to me. 

Iowa is not only great in its material possessions,— 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. hi 

in its farms and its factories,— but it is great in its 
influence on the nation. From the period of your 
admission into the American Union as a State, you 
have had marked influence on national legislation and 
national administration ; and I know of no State in the 
country to-day that has greater influence in public affairs, 
through its senators and its representatives in Congress, 
than this great State of Iowa. [Great applause.] 



LVI. 

Speech at Creston, Iowa, October 13, 1898. 

My Felloiv-Citkens : 

The cheerful faces of this great assemblage give me as- 
surance of what I have ah'eady known, that the business 
and industrial and agricultural conditions of the country 
are those of confidence. I do not know a period of our 
history when the country enjoyed more real and sub- 
stantial prosperity than it does to-day. The job hunts 
the man, not the man the job. When that condition 
exists labor is always better rewarded. In every one of 
the great industries of the country we are feeling a 
degree of prosperity which gives hope and confidence to 
aU of our people. Not only are the people reasonably 
prosperous, but the government in which we are all 
interested is alike prosperous. Our financial condition 
was never better than it is now. Our national credit 
was never so high as it is now, and the people of the 
United States were well enough off— when the govern- 
ment wanted two hundred millions of dollars with which 
to conduct the war— to subscribe for foui'teen hundred 



112 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

million dollars' worth of bonds [lond and prolonged 
cheering], and a bond at a lower rate of interest than 
was ever sold by the government of the United States 
before. Our revenues are not troubling us any more 
[laughter and applause], and our enemy is not troubhng 
us much more [laughter and loud applause]. We 
have got along fairly well thus far, thanks to the patriot- 
ism of the American people, and thanks to the valor and 
the courage and the heroism of the hojs of Iowa and of 
the other States of the American Union. 

My fellow-citizens, I want to leave one more thought 
with you, and that is, as we have been united and there- 
fore strong and invincible in the war, we must continue 
united until the end of this struggle ; we must have no 
differences among ourselves while we are settling differ- 
ences with another government. When we have made 
that settlement in the interest of justice and civilization 
and humanity, then we can resume our own domestic dif- 
ferences. 

I want to say in this presence and before this as- 
semblage that, in all the trying months through which 
we have just passed, the President of the United States 
had the faithful support of the representatives of the 
people of Iowa in the Congress of the United States. 
[Great applause.] 

LVII. 

Remarks at Osceola, Iowa, October 13, 1898. 

My Fellow- Citizens : 

I do not think you appreciate how much good your 
presence in such vast numbers all along our journey has 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 113 

been to the President of the United States. If he can 
feel that he has the support and the confidence of his 
countrymen, irrespective of party, I think he will have 
courage for any duty ; for whenever a great problem is 
presented to them, the people are sui-e to be right in 
their ultimate judgment. I thank you for the pleasure 
of looking into your faces this morning, and bid you 
good day. [Applause.] 

LVIII. 
Speech at Chariton, Iowa, October 13, 1898. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

Until my visit to your State I do not think I ever ap- 
preciated fuUy the size and population of Iowa. The vast 
assemblages that have everywhere greeted us with their 
good will have been both touching and inspiring. It gives 
me great pleasure to see the men and the women, the old 
and the young, as they gather under the flag of the free 
to renew once more their devotion to country and our 
free institutions. It gives me especial pleasure to meet 
with the school-children, the boys and the girls, those who 
in a little while must take up the trust now in the hands 
of the older of us, and carry forward this great govern- 
ment. These little people who gather about us, who 
are in the public schools, ai-e to be educated for future 
citizenship ; for out of the school-house, in all of our 
history, have come the statesmen, the business men, the 
soldiers, and the farmers that have done so much for 
this country. 

We have been fortunate as a nation in the last six 
months. We have made much progress in a very short 



8 



114 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

time. We have almost lost sight of the fact, in talk- 
ing about the war, that we have made some very sub- 
stantial gains without resort to arms. We have Hawaii, 
that came to us free and indei^endent, and asked to be 
annexed ; and I have no doubt the teachers in the public 
schools have already revised the maps so as to include 
this new addition to the United States. And, my fellow- 
citizens, wherever our flag floats, wherever we raise that 
standard of liberty, it is always for the sake of humanity 
and the advancement of civilization. Territory some- 
times comes to us when we go to war in a holy cause, 
and whenever it does the banner of liberty will float 
over it and bring, I trust, blessings and benefits to all 
the people. [Great applause.] 



LIX. 

Speech at Ottumwa, Iowa, October 13, 1898. 

Mi/ Felloiv-Citizens : 

I wish I had the voice to make myself heard by this 
great assemblage of my countrymen. I recall with the 
pleasantest memory a visit I made to your city seven 
years ago, and I still carry in recollection the warmth of 
welcome you extended to me. I think there are more 
people here to-day than were present at the meeting to 
which I refer. At that time we were considering a great 
economic question. That question has, happily, been 
settled, and settled on the side of the people. We 
have been setthng a great many things in the past few 
months. We have been settling some foreign complica- 
tions. We settled the question as to whether the Anieri- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 115 

can flag shall float over Hawaii [great applause], and 
the flag is floating there to-day, in all its beauty and in 
all its glory, over a happy and contented people, who 
wanted to be annexed to the United States because they 
loved our institutions. For more than half a century 
we had in Cuba a disturbing question lying at our very 
door— ten years of continuous revolution during the 
administration of President Grant, followed by a three 
years' revolution of recent date. That, too, has been 
settled [applause], and that which disturbed so long the 
peace and tranquillity of the American government, and 
interfered with our legitimate trade, has now been ended. 
[Great applause.] 

Now, what we have to do is to be wise about the fu- 1 
ture. We have been united up to this hour ; we do not ' 
want to be divided now. And we want the best wisdom! 
of the whole country, the best statesmanship of the' 
country, and the best public sentiment of the country', 
to help determine what the duty of the American na- \ 
tion is, and when that is once determined, we will do it 
without fear or hesitation. [Great applause.] 



LX. 

Speech at Monmouth, Illinois, October 13, 1898. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

I quite despair of making my voice heard by this great 
audience, but whether you hear mine or not, I have heard 
yours of hearty welcome, and thank you. 

The American name was never higher than it is now, 
and American citizenship was never dearer to its pos- 



116 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

sessor, nor fraught with graver responsibilities. The 
army and the navy from Manila to Santiago have nobly 
performed their duty. It is left for the citizens of this 
country to do theu*s. May God give us the wisdom 
to perform our part with fidelity, not only to our own 
interests, but to the interests of those who, by the for- 
tunes of war, are brought within the radius of our in- 
fluence. [Applause.] 

LXI. 

Speech at Galesburg, Illinois, October 13, 1898. 

My Felloiv- Citizens : 

It gives me uncommon pleasure to meet and greet 
this great audience of patriotic citizens of Galesburg. 
I am glad to meet the young men of the colleges who 
are here to-night. I am glad to greet the old volun- 
teers of the Civil War and the new volunteers of the 
Spanish War, and not the least of my pleasure is that I 
have been permitted to meet here in your city the com- 
mander of that splendid army in front of Santiago, 
Major-General Shafter. [Great applause.] I hope he 
has told the story of heroism at San Juan hill and El 
Caney [continued applause], and other points of thrill- 
ing interest in that near-by island which, through the 
valor of his soldiers and the wisdom of the commander, 
brought to his country such a magnificent triumph. 
Somehow there is always a man raised for the hour. 
When the Merrimac was to be sunk there was a brave 
lieutenant of the navy ready to sacrifice his life in the 
accomplishment of that heroic deed. [Cheers.] When 
the war came on there were two hundred thousand volun- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 117 

teers within sixty days marcliing under tlie banner of 
freedom, ready to go anywhere, ready to make any sacri- 
fice for the honor of the country and for humanity. And 
in every emergency to which this country has ever been 
subjected, the people have risen to the highest measure 
of duty and of opportunity. 

We have grave responsibilities yet resting upon us. 
The heroes of Manila and Santiago and Porto Rico have 
done their part nobly and well. It remains for us citi- 
zens of the United States to do our part. And now, 
having said this much, I give way that you may have the 
pleasure of seeing and hearing members of the Cabinet 
and others who have been accompanying me on this 
long journey. I cannot forbear to say that nothing has 
so impressed and inspired me as the noble, patriotic spirit 
of the people of the United States, not only in the North, 
but in the South. [Applause.] Never was a people so 
united in purpose, in heart, in sympathy, and in love as 
the American people to-day. One thing yet is left for 
us to do, and that is to remain shoulder to shoulder 
until there shall be secured in the treaty of peace all 
the fruits of this great war. [Great applause.] 



LXII. 

Speech at the Merchants' Exchange, St. Louis, 
Missouri, October 14, 1898. 

Mr. President, Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

I thank you all most cordially for the warm welcome 
you have given me to your city, and I congratulate you 
upon the good feeling and the uplifting spirit every- 



118 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

where found tliroiiglioiit the length and breadth of our 
common country. Thank God, we are all together once 
more. [Applause.] "We have one flag and one destiny, 
and wherever that destiny shaU lead us we will have 
hearts strong enough to meet its responsibilities. [Ap- 
plause.] We cannot enjoy the glories of victory without 
bearing whatever burdens it imposes, feeling assured 
they will carry blessings to the people. 

We were never so weU off as we are to-day. Indus- 
trial despair no longer hangs over us. We have gone 
from business depression to business prosperity. We 
have gone from labor hunting employment to employ- 
ment hunting labor. [Applause.] A most blessed 
country we have; and resting upon all of us is the 
duty of maintaining it unimpaired, while carrying for- 
ward the great trust of civilization that has been com- 
mitted :to us. We must gather the just fruits of the 
victory. We must pursue duty step by step. We must 
follow the light as God has given us to see the light, and 
he has singularly guided us, not only from the begin- 
ning of our great government, but down through every 
crisis to the present hour ; and I am sure it is the prayer 
of every American that he shall still guide and direct 
us. [Applause.] 



OF WILLLiM McKINLEY. 119 



LXIII. 

Speech in the Coliseoi, St. Louis, Missouri, 
October 14, 1898. 

3fy Felloiv-Citizens : 

My former visits to St. Louis are full of pleasant 
memories. My present one I sliaU never forget. It has 
warmed my heart and given me encouragement for 
greater effort to administer the trust which I hold for 
my country. My first visit was in 1888, and then again 
in 1892, both of which afforded me an opportunity of 
becoming acquainted with your people, and of observing 
the substantial character of your enterprising city. I 
omitted my quadrennial visit in 1896 for reasons which 
were obvious to you, and have always been thankful 
that my absence seemed to have created no prejudice in 
your minds. [Laughter and applause.] 

I remember, on the occasion of a former visit, in com- 
pany with Governor Francis and other citizens, to have 
witnessed the assembled pupils of the schools of the city 
at your great fair. It was an inspiring sight, and it 
has never been effaced from recollection. As I looked 
into the thousands of young faces of the boys and the 
girls, preparing themselves for citizenship, I had my 
faith confirmed in the stability of our institutions. [Ap- 
plause.] I saw them to-day as I drove about your city, 
with the flag in their hands, and heard their voices 
ringing with the song we love— 

My country, 't is of thee, 
Sweet land of liberty. 



120 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

To the youth of the country trained in the schools, 
which happily are opened to all, must we look to carry 
forward the fabric of government. It is fortunate for 
us that our republic appeals to the best and noblest 
aspirations of its citizens, and makes all things possible 
to the worthy and industrious youth. 

The personal interest and participation of our citizen- 
ship in the conduct of the government make its condi- 
tion always absorbing and interesting. 

It must be a matter of great gratification to the people 
of the United States to know that the national credit 
was never better than now, while the national name was 
never dearer to us, and never more respected by others 
the world over. For the first time in the country's 
history the government has sold a three-per-cent. bond, 
every dollar of which was taken at par. This bond is now 
at a premium of five cents on the dollar ; and the profit 
has gone to the people. [Applause.] The loan was a 
popular one, and it has been a source of much satis- 
faction that the people, with then* surplus savings, 
were able to buy the bonds. It is an interesting fact 
that while we offered but two hundred millions of bonds 
for sale, over fourteen hundred millions were subscribed 
by the people of the country, and by the terms of sale 
no one was able to receive bonds in excess of five 
thousand dollars. [Applause.] 

It is not without significance, too, that the govern- 
ment has not been required, since 1896, to borrow any 
money for its current obligations until the war with 
Spain, while its available balance, October 1, 1898, was 
upward of three hundred and seven millions, of which 
sum over two hundred and forty-three millions were in 
gold. Nothing more impressed the nations of the world 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 121 

than the appropriation of a large national defense fund 
which the Treasury was able to pay from its balance, 
without resort to a loan. While the credit and finance 
of the government have improved, the business condi- 
tions of the people have also happily improved. We 
are more cheerful, more happy, more contented. Both 
government and citizens have shared in the general pros- 
perity. The circulation of the country on the 1st of July, 
1898, was larger than it had ever been before in our his- 
tory. It is not so large to-day as then, but the reason for 
it is that the people put a part of that circulation in the 
Treasury to meet the government bonds which they hold 
in their hands. /^ 

The people have borne the additional taxation made 
necessary by the war with the same degree of patriotism 
that characterized the soldiers who enlisted to fight the 
country's battles. [Applause.] We have not only pros- 
pered in every material sense, but we have established 
a sentiment of good feeling and a spirit of brother- 
hood such as the nation has not enjoyed since the ear- 
lier years of its history. My countrymen, not since the''™^ 
beginning of the agitation of the question of slavery has 
there been such a common bond in name and purpose, 
such genuine affection, such a unity of the sections, 
such obliteration of party and geographical divisions. 
National pride has been again enthroned; national 
patriotism has been restored; the national Union ce- 
mented closer and stronger ; the love for the old flag 
enshrined in all hearts. North and South have mingled 
their best blood in a common cause, and to-day rejoice 
in a common victory. [Great applause.] Happily for 
the nation to-day, they follow the same glorious banner, 
together fighting and dying under its sacred folds for 



122 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

American honor and for tlie humanity of the race. 
[Loud and prolonged applause.] 

We must guard this restored Union with zealous and 
sacred care, and, while awaiting the settlements of the 
war and meeting the problems which will follow, we 
must stand as Americans, not in the spirit of party, and 
unite in a common effort for that which will give to the 
nation its widest influence in the sphere of activity and 
usefulness to which the war has assigned it. My fellow- 
citizens, let nothing distract us ; let no discordant voice 
intrude to embarrass us in the solution of the mighty 
problems which involve such vast consequences to our- 
selves and posterity. Let us remember that God bestows 
supreme opportunity upon no nation which is not ready 
to respond to the call of supreme duty. [Prolonged ap- 
plause.] 



LXIV. 

Speech at Terre Haute, Indiana, October 15, 1898. 

3Iy Fellow-Citisens : 

I have no expectation of making myself heard by this 
vast assemblage. I thank you for this warm and hearty 
reception at so early an hour of the morning. It gives 
me peculiar pleasure to meet again the citizens of the 
city of Terre Haute, and not the least element of that 
pleasure is that it gives me an opportunity of meeting 
my old friend, your neighbor, the veteran statesman 
and patriot, Hon. Richard W. Thompson. I do not 
forget that this was the home of that other distinguished 
Indianian, whose eloquence moved Senates and swayed 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 123 

great audiences, and whose friendship I enjoj-ed, Hon. 
Daniel W. Voorhees. 

For seven days we have been traveling tlirough the 
great West, and, everywhere we have gone, great assem- 
blages like this have greeted us, I do not misinterpret 
it. I know what it means. It has no personal signifi- 
cance, but it does have a national significance, and it 
means that all the people of all the sections are 
once more united under one flag, united in purpose 
and patriotism. It means, my fellow-citizens, that the 
people of the United States want the victories of the 
army and of the navy to be recognized in the treaty of 
peace. It means that they want those of us who are 
charged with the administration of the government to 
see to it that the war was not in vain, and that the just 
fruits of our achievements on land and sea shall not be 
lost. [Great applause.] 

LXV. 

Speech at Paris, Illinois, October 15, 1898. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

I am glad to greet the citizens of Paris. If no word 
was spoken, the flag you carry would proclaim your faith 
in our common country, and the glowing patriotism 
which is in every heart. We have but one duty to per- 
form, and that is to stand by the flag, and fortunately 
for us, in every part of the country, in every section of 
the country, all the people are standing beneath the 
folds of that glorious old banner— united under it in 
peace and fighting under it in war. [Great applause.] 



124 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 



LXVI. 

Speech at Arcola, Illinois, October 15, 1898. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

We are a most fortunate people. We not only have a 
revival of patriotism among the people, but we have a 
return of prosperity to the country. Our business con- 
ditions are good at home, and our trade is good abroad. 
The producer has more and better consumers than he 
had a few years ago. That is because the business of 
the country has been restored. The factories and the 
shops and the great productive enterprises are again at 
work, so that you have consumers at home as well as 
abroad. We sold last year to Europe more than we 
bought of Europe. [Applause.] We sent more American 
products to the Old World, produced and made in the 
United States by our own labor, than we ever sent out of 
the country in any year in all our history ; and more than 
three fourths of our exportation s came from the fields 
and farms of the United States. And here, in your city 
of Areola, you know what it means to have a foreign 
market. When you cannot sell your broom-corn in our 
own country, you are glad to send the sm-plus to some 
other countr}^, and get their good money for your good 
broom-corn. 

My fellow-citizens, we have resting upon us as a 
people grave problems, and it is our business to solve 
them wisely, and the people can help to do so, because 
whenever they consider calmly and soberly any great 
question, they are unerring in judgment. Mr. Lincoln 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 125 

followed tlie people, and following them he made no 
mistake. We have had great glory out of the war, and 
in its settlements we must be guided only by the de- 
mands of right and conscience and duty. [Great ap- 
plause.] And when we have settled the problems of the 
war, our next triumphs must be those of commerce, 
not by arms, but by our superior advantages, and by 
the skill and genius and energy of our people. [Con- 
tinued applause.] 

I thank you for this cordial reception, and am glad to 
know that all the people of all the country are stand- 
ing together, and mean to be united so long as vast 
problems remain unsolved. [Prolonged applause.] 



LXVII. 

Speech at Decatur, Illinois, October 15, 1898. 

3Iy FelloiV'Citizens : 

I am thankful for the warm greeting accorded by this 
vast concourse of my countrymen. The central thought 
in every American mind to-day is the war and its residts. 
The gratitude of every American heart goes out to our 
army and navy. [Applause.] What a magnificent army 
was mustered in less than sixty days ! More than two 
hundred thousand soldiers responded to the call of 
country, coming from the homes of our fellow-citizens 
everywhere, the bravest and the best, willing to go into 
foreign territory to fight for the honor of our flag and 
for oppressed humanity. [Applause.] There was no 
break in our column. There was no division in any 
part of the country. North and South and East and 



126 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

West alike cheerfully responded; and then what vic- 
tories were achieved in a little more than three months ! 
[Applause.] Our troops sailed seven thousand miles 
away to Manila and won a signal victory. [Applause.] 
Our troops sailed to Cuba and achieved a glorious 
triumph. [Applause.] Oui* fleets in Manila Bay and San- 
tiago harbor destroyed two Spanish fleets without the 
loss of a ship, and the brilliancy of both victories is not 
paralleled in the annals of war, [Great applause.] And 
all in a little over one hundred days ! That is what our 
army and navy did. Now it only remains for the citi- 
zens of the republic to be as wise in statesmanship as 
our soldiers and sailors have been valorous in arms. 
[Prolonged applause.] 

LXVIII. 

Speech at Springfield, Illinois, October 15, 1898, 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

With grateful appreciation I acknowledge the gen- 
erous words of welcome uttered in your behalf by the 
governor of the State [Governor Tanner] and by yom* 
distinguished senator [Senator Cullom], I am glad to 
meet the people of Illinois at their State capital. I 
am glad to be at the home of the martyred President. 
His name is an inspiration, and a holy one, to all lovers 
of liberty the world over. He saved the Union. He 
liberated a race— a race which he once said ought to be 
free because there might come a time when these black men 
could help keep the jcAvel of liberty within the famUy of 
freedom. If any vindication of that act or of that 
prophecy were needed, it was found when these brave 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 127 

black men ascended the liill of San Juan in Cuba and 
charged the enemy at El Caney, [Great applause.] 
They vindicated their own title to liberty on that field, 
and, with our other brave soldiers, gave the priceless 
gift of hberty to another suffering race. My fellow- 
citizens, the name of Lincoln will live forever in immor- 
tal story. His fame, his work, his life, are not only an 
inspiration to every American boy and girl, but to all 
mankind. [Great applause.] And what an encourage- 
ment his life-work has been to all of his successors in 
the j3residential office ! If any one of them, at any time, 
has felt that his burden was heavy, he had but to reflect 
upon the greater burdens of Abraham Lincoln to make 
his own seem light. My fellow-citizens, I congratulate 
you that your great State furnished him to the country 
and the world. You guard his sacred ashes here, but the 
whole country guards with you his sacred memory. 

I congratulate you upon the condition of the country. 
It was never better than it is to-day. Our national 
finances give us no trouble. We have all necessary 
money now with which to do the business of the govern- 
ment. [Applause.] And the government is secure in 
its finances, thanks to the people for having accepted the 
war taxes patriotically. The business of the people is 
better than it has been for years, and the money of the 
country has suffered no dishonor, while the credit of 
the government was never higher, and the national name 
never dearer to our people than now, and never more 
respected throughout the world. AU thanks to the 
army and navy ; thanks to the fleets of Dewey and Samp- 
son, and the armies of Miles and of Shafter and of Mer- 
ritt. [Great applause.] We have won great triumphs 
for humanity. We went to war, not because we wanted 



128 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

to, but because humanity demanded it. And having 
gone to war for humanity's sake, we must accept no 
settlement that will not take into account the interests 
of humanity. [Continued applause.] 

Now, my friends, what we want is to have no dispute 
or differences among ourselves to interfere with our 
united judgment in dealing with "the foreign problems 
that are before us. As we stood together in war, let us 
stand together until its settlements are made. [Long- 
continued applause.] 

LXIX. 

Speech at Clinton, Illinois, October 15, 1898. 

My Felloiv-Citizens : 

I was told that this was a city of only five thousand 
people. I am prepared now to disbelieve it. I am 
gratified to meet the constituents and neighbors and 
fellow-citizens of your representative in Congress [Rep- 
resentative Warner] at his home. We are all of us proud 
of our country, proud of its past, of its commercial and 
industrial achievements. What wonderful growth and 
progress we have made ! The State of Illinois has to-day 
a population greater than that of the thirteen original 
colonies. We have grown from a little more than three 
millions of people to seventy-five millions. We have be- 
come the greatest agricultural and maniif acturing nation 
of the world. We have been making progress at rapid 
strides in all the arts of peace. We have a nation from 
whose history we need not turn away. We can study it 
with pride and profit. We can look back without regret 
or humiliation, and forward with hope and confidence. 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 129 

/The past of our country is glorious. What it shall be in 
the future rests with you— rests with the whole people. y 

Your voice, when constitutionally expressed, is com- 
manding and conclusive. It is the mandate of law. It 
is the law to Congress and to the Executive. May that 
voice be that of right and truth and justice ! I am sure 
it will be so, and if it is, we need have no fear for the 
future of our country. [Great applause.] 



LXX. 

Speech at Gilivl^n, Illinois, October 15, 1898. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

With the pleasantest recollection I recaU my former 
visit at this place. It was just about this time in the 
year and this time of the evening four years ago. That 
period is very short in the life of a nation, yet very 
much has happened in these four years. I hope that 
that which has happened does not meet with your dis- 
approval. We have settled the revenue legislation. We 
have a comfortable balance in the Treasury. We 
have an unexcelled public credit. We have put the flag 
over Hawaii. We have had, too, a short and decisive 
war— brilliant in its victories both on land and on sea ; 
and we have added new names to the nation's roll of 
honor. It is our business to dedicate ourselves to the 
task yet unfinished. The army and the navy have per- 
formed their part. May we be able as well and honorably 
to perform ours, and may we bring to the yet unfinished 
task the best conscience and the best intelligence of the 
country. [Great applause.] 



130 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 



LXXI. 

Speech at Kankakee, Illinois, October 15, 1898. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

This is not my first visit to your city. On the former 
occasion, just about four years ago, I was presented 
to a great assemblage by your distinguished repre- 
sentative in Congress [Representative Cannon], whom I 
had hoped to have the pleasure of meeting here to-night. 
Illinois has a great history. She has been potential in 
national policies and in national councils from her ad- 
mission into the Union as a State. In war or in peace 
she has been conspicuous always. She had Grant and 
Oglesby and Logan and Palmer and McClernand in the 
Civil War ; and in our recent war the boys from Illinois 
responded cheerfully to the call of country to go any- 
where to maintain the public honor and give freedom 
to an oppressed people. It is a remarkable fact that 
this State was the center of public thought for more 
than a decade. Lincoln and Douglas represented the 
two opposing schools of politics. Their famous debate 
was an education for the young men and the old men of 
the country, and had as much to do with shaping and 
molding public opinion as any other event I can now re- 
call. And yet, when the nation was in peril, those two 
great leaders opposing each other came together, united 
for the Union and the flag. [Great applause.] 



OF wiLLiAJVi Mckinley. isi 



LXXII. 

Speech at the Auditoriuivi, Chicago, 
October 18, 1898. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

I have been deeply moved by tliis great demonstra- 
tion. I have been deeply touched by the words of pa- 
triotism that have been so eloquently uttered by the dis- 
tinguished men in your presence. It is gratifying to all 
of us to know that this has never ceased to be a war of 
humanity. The last ship that went out of the harbor 
of Havana before the war began was an American 
ship that had taken to the suffering people of Cuba the 
supplies furnished by American charity. [Applause.] 
And the first ship to sail into the harbor of Santiago was 
an American ship bearing food-supplies to the suffer- 
ing Cubans. [Applause.] I am sure it is the universal 
prayer of American citizens that justice and humanity 
and civilization shall characterize the final settlement 
of peace, as they have distinguished the progress of the 
war. [Applause.] 

My countrymen, the currents of destiny flow through 
the hearts of the people. Who will check them ? Who 
will divert them? Who will stop them? And the 
movements of men, planned and designed by the Master 
of men, will never be interrupted by the American 
people. [Great applause.] 



132 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 



LXXIII. 

Remaeks to Gathering in Front of Union League 
Club, Chicago, October 19, 1898. 

My FeJloiv-Citisens : 

I have heard with pride and satisfaction the cheers of 
the multitude as the veterans of the Civil War on both 
sides of the contest have been reviewed. [Great ap- 
plause.] I have witnessed with increasing pride this wild 
acclaim as you have watched the volunteers and the reg- 
idars and our naval reserves — the guardians of the peo- 
ple on land and sea— pass before your eyes. The demon- 
stration of to-day is worth everything— everything to our 
country, for I read in the faces and hearts of my country- 
men the purpose to see to it that this government, with 
its free institutions, " shall not perish from the earth." 
[Great applause.] 

I wish I might take the hand of every patriotic man, 
woman, and child here to-day. [Applause.] But I can- 
not do that. [A voice : '' But you 've got our hearts." 
Prolonged cheering.] And so I leave with you not only 
my thanks, but the thanks of this great nation, for your 
patriotism and devotion to the flag. [Great cheering.] 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 133 



LXXIV. 

Speech at the Citizens' Banquet in the Auditorium, 
Chicago, October 19, 1898. 

Mr. Toastniaster, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

It affords me gratification to meet the people of the 
city of Chicago, and to participate with them in this 
patriotic celebration. Upon the suspension of hostilities 
of a foreign war, the first in our history for over half a 
century, we have met in a spirit of peace, profoundly 
grateful for the glorious advancement already made, 
and earnestly wishing in the final termination to realize 
an equally glorious fulfilment. 

With no feeling of exultation, but with profound 
thankfulness, we contemplate the events of the past five 
months. They have been too serious to admit of boast- 
ing or vainglorification. They have been so full of re- 
sponsibilities, immediate and prospective, as to admonish 
the soberest judgment and counsel the most conservative 
action. This is not the time to fire the imagination, but 
rather to discover in calm reason the way to truth and 
justice and right, and, when discovered, to follow it 
with fidelity and courage, without fear, hesitation, or 
weakness. 

The war has put upon the nation grave responsibili- 
ties. Their extent was not anticipated, and could not 
have been well foreseen. "We cannot escape the obliga- 
tions of victory. We cannot avoid the serious questions 
which have been brought home to us by the achievements 
of our arms on land and sea. We are bound in con- 



134 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

science to keep and perform the covenants which the 
■war has sacredly sealed with mankind. Accepting war 
for humanity's sake, we must accept all obligations 
which the war in duty and honor imposed upon us. The 
splendid victories we have achieved would be our eternal 
shame and not our everlasting glory if they led to the 
weakening of our original lofty purpose, or to the de- 
sertion of the immortal principles on which the national 
government was founded, and in accordance with whose 
ennobling spirit it has ever since been faithfully ad- 
ministered. 

The war with Spain was undertaken, not that the 
United States should increase its territory, but that 
oppression at our very doors should be stopped. This 
noble sentiment must continue to animate us, and we 
must give to the world the full demonstration of the sin- 
cerity of our purpose. 

Duty determines destiny. Destiny which results from 
duty performed may bring anxiety and perils, but never 
failure and dishonor. Pursuing duty may not always 
lead by smooth paths. Another course may look easier 
and more attractive, but pursuing duty for duty's sake 
is always sure and safe and honorable. 

It is not within the power of man to foretell the future 
and to solve unerringly its mighty problems. Almighty 
God has his plans and methods for human progress, and 
not infrequently they are shrouded for the time being in 
impenetrable mystery. Looking backward, we can see 
how the hand of destiny builded for us and assigned us 
tasks whose full meaning was not apprehended even by 
the wisest statesmen of their times. Our colonial an- 
cestors did not enter upon their war originally for in- 
dependence. Abraham Lincoln did not start out to free 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 135 

the slaves, but to save the Union. The war with Spain 
was not of our seeking, and some of its consequences 
may not be to our liking. Our vision is often defective. 
Short-sightedness is a common malady, but the closer 
we get to things or they get to us, the clearer our view 
,and the less obscure our duty. Patriotism must be 
faithful as well as fervent ; statesmanship must be wise 
as weU as fearless— not the statesmanship which will 
command the applause of the hour, but the judgment of 
posterity. 

The progress of a nation can alone prevent degenera- 
tion. There must be new life and purpose or there will 
be weakness and decay. There must be broadening of 
thought as well as broadening of trade. Territorial ex- 
pansion is not alone and always necessary to national 
advancement. There must be a constant movement 
toward a higher and nobler civilization, a civilization 
that shall make its conquests without resort to war, 
and achieve its greatest victories pursuing the arts of 
peace. In our present situation, duty and duty alone 
should prescribe the boundary of our responsibihties 
and the scope of our undertakings. J 

The final determination of our purposes awaits the 
action of the eminent men who are charged by the Ex- 
ecutive with the making of the treaty of peace, and that 
of the Senate of the United States, which, by our Con- 
stitution, must ratify and confirm it. We all hope and 
pray that the confirmation of peace will be as just and 
humane as the conduct and consummation of the war. 
When the work of the treaty-makers is done, the work of 
the lawmakers will begin. The one will settle the 
extent of our responsibilities, the other must provide 
the legislation to meet them. The army and navy have 



136 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

nobly and heroically performed their part. May God 
give the Executive and Congress wisdom to perform 
theirs ! 

LXXV. 

Speech at First Regiment Armory, Chicago, before 
THE Allied Organizations of Railroad Employees, 
October 20, 1898. 

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

I count myself most fortunate to have the privilege 
of meeting with the allied railroad organizations as- 
sembled in this great metropolis. I have had in the 
last ten days very many most interesting and pleasant 
experiences, as I have journeyed through the country ; 
but I assure you that none of them has given me greater 
pleasure than to meet the men and the women con- 
nected with the operation of the great railroads of the 
country. It is fortunate, too, that this body of rep- 
resentative men and women should have assembled in 
this city at a time when the people are celebrating the 
suspension of hostOities, and their desire for an honor- 
able and just and triumphant peace. The railroad men 
of the country have always been for the country; the 
railroad men of the country have always been for the 
flag of the country ; and in every crisis of our national 
history, in war or in peace, the men from your great 
organizations have been loyal and faithful to every duty 
and obligation. [Applause.] 

Yours is at once a profession of great risk and of 
great responsibility. I know of no occupation in the 
field of human endeavor that carries with it graver obli- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 137 

gations and higher responsibilities than that of the men 
who sit about me to-day. You transport the commerce 
of the country ; you carry its rich treasures from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific ; and you carry daily and hourly 
the freightage of humanity that trust you, trust your 
integrity, your intelligence, your fidelity, for the safety 
of their lives and of their loved ones. And I congratu- 
late the country that in this system, so interwoven with 
the every-day life of the citizen and the republic, we 
have men of such splendid character and ability and 
intelligence. 

I bring to you to-day not only my good will, but the 
good will and respect of seventy-five millions of Amer- 
ican citizens. Yoiu- work is ever before a critical public. 
You go in and out every day before your countrymen, 
and you have earned from them deserved and unstinted 
praise for your fidelity to the great interests of the peo- 
ple whom you serve and of the roads which you operate. 

The virtue of the people lies at the foundation of the 
republic. The power of the republic is in the American 
fireside. The virtue that comes out from the holy altar 
of home is the most priceless gift this nation has ; and 
when the judgments of the people are spoken through 
the homes of the people, they command the Congress and 
the Executive, and at last crystallize into public law. 

I thank you, my fellow-citizens, for your cordial greet- 
ing, and I congratulate you upon the evidences of re- 
turning prosperity everywhere to be seen. The figures 
read by your chairman represent the growth of the 
great railroad system of the country. What you want, 
what we all want, is business prosperity. When you 
have that you have something to do. When you have 
it not you are idle. 



138 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

There are few '' empties " now on the side-tracks, and 
so there are few railroad men unemployed. The more 
you use the freight-car the oftener you see the pay-car. 
[Applause.] 

I am glad to observe the First Illinois here with you 
to-day. That gallant regiment, made up of the volun- 
teers from the homes of Chicago, took their lives into 
their hands and went to Santiago to fight the battles of 
liberty for an oppressed people. I am glad to have this 
opportunity to greet them, to congratulate and to thank 
them in the name of the American people. [Great 
applause.] 

And now, having said this much, I bid you know that 
I will carry from this place, from this audience, from 
these warm-hearted men and women, one of the pleas- 
antest memories of my long trip through the West. 
[Loud and prolonged cheering.] 

LXXVI. 

Remarks to Chicago Committee on International 
Arbitration, Chicago, October 20, 1898. 

Gentlemen : 

I am indeed very glad to meet this representative 
delegation, and give you the assurance that the subject 
of your memorial shall enlist my early and earnest con- 
sideration. You are doubtless aware that I have in- 
formed the Czar of Russia that the United States will 
be represented in this proposed congress of peace. I 
suppose it might not be inappropriate, when we form 
our commission, to constitute it generously from you 
Chicago gentlemen who are so thoroughly interested 



OF WILLIAM McKLNXEY. 139 

in the issue with which it will deal; but we will take 
this up later. I don't want to take any of you by 
surprise. 

LXXVII. 

Speech at Logansport, Indiana, October 21, 1898. 

Ml/ Fellow-Citizens : 

About a week ago I entered your State at eight 
o'clock in the morning, and was greeted by tens of 
thousands of people in the city of Terre Haute. An hour 
earlier in the day I meet this great throng of my fellow- 
countrymen. But since Dewey entered Manila Bay on 
that early morning in May, there has been no hour too 
early for the people of the United States to assemble to 
rejoice over our national victories and to manifest their 
desire for an honorable and triumphant peace. [Ap- 
plause.] The flag never seemed so dear to us as it does 
now, and it never floated over so many places as it does 
now. [Applause.] As I have journeyed through the coun- 
try I have rejoiced at the patriotism of the people. The 
flag of our country is in every man's hands and patriotism 
is in every man's heart. [Aj^plause.] That is a good 
omen for our country. Our army and our navy have 
done brilliant service, have added new honors to the 
American name, have given a new meaning to American 
valor ; and it only remains for us, the people, who in a 
country like ours are masterful when they speak, to do 
the rest, and to embody in honorable treaty the just 
fruitage of this war. [Great applause.] 



140 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 



LXXVIII. 

Speech at Kokomo, Indiana, October 21, 1898. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

For your warm and cordial welcome I thank you most 
sincerely. I do not misinterpret its meaning. It means 
that the people of this community are standing together 
for country and for civilization. The war has made us 
a united people. We present a spectacle of seventy-five 
millions of people, representing every race and nation- 
ality and section, united in one faith and under one 
flag, and that the glorious old Stars and Stripes we love 
so much. And we must continue to stand together. 
So long as we have any differences abroad we must 
have none at home. Whenever we get through with 
our differences with another nation, then it will be time 
for us to resume our old disputes at home. Until 
that time we must stand for a common purpose, 
until the settlements of the war shall be embodied in 
the permanent form of a public treaty. [Applause.] 
We commenced the war, not for gain or greed or 
new possessions. We commenced it for freedom and 
to relieve our neighbors of oppression. [Applause.] 
And, having accomplished that, we must assume all 
the responsibilities that justly belong to that war, 
whatever they may be. I am sure that the people 
of this country, without regard to party, setting aside 
all differences and distinctions, will remain together 
until we shall finally settle the terms of peace. [Great 
applause.] I recall with peculiar satisfaction this 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 141 

morning, as I look into the faces of my countrymen 
from Indiana, the promptness with which your people 
responded to the call of the President after the declara- 
tion of war. [Loud cheering.] Within twenty-four 
hours from the receipt of that call your quota was full 
and in camp, and fifty thousand young men were ready 
to enlist under the banner of freedom. [Loud and pro- 
longed cheers.] I thank you all, in the name of the 
nation, for your patriotic devotion to the country. 
[Great applause.] 



LXXIX. 

Speech at Tipton, Indiana, October 21, 1898. 

Ily Fellow-Citizens : 

I am both pleased and honored with the cordial recep- 
tion given to me by the people of Indiana. I congratu-' 
late the whole country upon the revival of the national 
spirit, and also upon the return of better times. I have 
been glad to note, as I have traveled through the great 
West, that despair no longer hangs over the business 
interests of the country, but that all the people look out 
into the future with hope and with confidence. [Ap- 
plause.] We have had such a revival of patriotism in 
this country as we have never had since the earliest days 
of our history. For the first time for more than half a 
century. North and South are united in holy alliance, 
with one aim, with one purpose, and with one determina- 
tion—to stand by the government of the United States. 
[Applause.] That is what the war has done for the people 
of the United States. What it has done for other peoples 



142 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

has yet to be determined. But as I look into your earnest 
faces I know that you would have this nation help the 
oppressed people who have by the war been brought 
within the sphere of our influence. [Applause.] Here 
in this great gas belt I am reminded of what nature 
has done for your great manufactories. I congratulate 
you again upon the prospect for better business in the 
United States. It is a great thing for the farmer to 
have men employed in shop and factory. [Applause.] 
It is a great thing for men to be employed ; and I have 
discovered that when the employer seeks labor, labor 
gets better pay than when the laborer seeks employ- 
ment. [Applause.] And now, having said this much, 
and grateful to you for this splendid reception, I bid 
you all good morning. [Great applause.] 



LXXX. 

Speech at Atlanta, Indiana, October 21, 1898. 

3fy FeTloiv-Citizens : 

It gives me uncommon pleasure to meet my country- 
men and the constituents of my friend and your friend. 
Representative Landis. This, I believe, is one of the 
towns in Indiana where they make tin-plate. Am I 
right? [Cries of ''Right!"] I heartily congratulate 
you upon the establishment of this successful industry 
in the United States. It has done some things for the 
country. It has given employment to many working- 
men. It has made us, from the greatest consuming 
nation of tin-plate in the world, to be among the great- 
est of the nations to make tin-plate. I congratulate 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 143 

yoTi not only upon tlie prosperous condition of that 
branch of our national industries, but upon the better 
outlook for all the industries of the United States. 
[Applause.] I congratulate you further upon the 
patriotism of the people. And I thank you all that 
■when the call of the country came you responded so 
cheerfully, and furnished more volunteers than the gov- 
ernment of the United States could accept from the 
State of Indiana. [Applause.] I am glad to see these 
little ones about us this morning with these beautiful 
flags in their hands. It means that there is patriotism 
in their hearts. I congratulate you upon the unifica- 
tion of the country. We are stronger and have a more 
perfect Union now than we ever had before. And I 
wish you all prosperity in your workshops and love and 
contentment in your homes. [Great applause.] 



LXXXI. 

Speech at Noblesville, Indiana, October 21, 1898. 

Jir. Gliairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

This is a most inspiring spectacle. Present here this 
morning are all of your civic bodies, the old soldiers 
and the new soldiers, and all the people. Such a sight 
as this could scarcely be witnessed anywhere else. You 
are here because you are interested in your country. 
You are here because you love your country. You are 
here because you rejoice in the victories of our army 
and our navy. And you are here because you rejoice 
in the suspension of hostilities, the return of many of 
your boys to their homes, and the hope and belief that 



14.4: SPEECHES AND ABDEESSES 

you will soon have a lasting and triumphant peace, 
resting in justice, righteousness, and humanity. [Ap- 
plause.] Here none are for a party, but all are for the 
State. Here Democrats and Republicans and men of 
all parties have assembled to show their appreciation of 
the services rendered to the government by the army 
and the navy of the United States. [Applause.] And 
no nation ever had a more splendid army. Two hun- 
dred thousand of the bravest young men, within thirty 
days of the call of the President, responded, ready to 
march anywhere, at home or abroad, beneath the folds 
of the glorious old banner of the free. [Great cheer- 
ing.] And did any nation in the world ever have a 
better navy ? [Cries of '' No ! "] It was small, but it 
was masterful. [Applause.] 

My fellow-citizens, rejoicing as we do over the vic- 
tories of the war, let us be careful in justice and 
right to gather the triumphs of peace. The soldiers 
and sailors have done their part. The citizens must now 
do theirs. And I pray God that wisdom may be given 
all of us to so settle this vexed and vast problem as to 
bring honor to our country, justice to humanity, and 
general good to all. [Great applause.] 



LXXXII. 

Speech at Indianapolis, Indiana, October 21, 1898. 

My Fellow- Citizens : 

I thank you for the words of welcome spoken in your 
behalf by your distinguished senator [Senator Fair- 
banks], I thank you for this cordial and hearty greeting 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 145 

at the capital city of your great State. We meet in 
no party name. We meet in the name of the country, 
of patriotism, and of peace. [Cheers.] It gives me 
peculiar pleasure to meet the people of the home resi- 
dence of that illustrious statesman, a predecessor in the 
Presidential office, Benjamin Harrison. [Cheers.] And 
I do not forget in this presence that this was the home 
of that other distinguished Indianian, Thomas A. Hen- 
dricks. [Cheers.] Both names are remembered by all 
of you, and both have been distinguished in the service 
of their country. 

My fellow-citizens, we are here to-day because we love 
the old flag. [Cheers.] It never went down in de- 
feat ; it was never raised in dishonor. [Cries of "Never ! " 
and cheers.] It means more at this hour than it ever 
meant in all our history. It floats to-day where it never 
floated before. [Cheers.] Glorious old banner — 

The same our grandsires lifted up, 
The same our fathers bore. 

The war has been successful. It ended in a little 
over one hundred days. Matchless victories on land 
and sea ! Our army and our navy are entitled to every 
honor that a generous nation can bestow. [Cheers.] 
Peerless army and navy ! They have done their part ; 
the rest remains with us. The war was inaugurated 
for humanity ; its settlements must not overlook human- 
ity. [Cheers.] It was not commenced in bitterness. It 
was not commenced in malice. It was commenced in 
a spirit of humanity, of freedom, to stop oppression in a 
neighboring island. [Cheers.] We cannot shirk the 
obligations of the victory if we would, and we would 

not if we could. [Cheers.] 
10 



146 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



LXXXIII. 

Speech at Rushville, Indiana, October 21, 1898. 

My Fellow-Citizens: 

I assure you of my appreciation of this gracious wel- 
come on this inclement day. We have very much to be 
grateful for as a nation and a people. Providence has 
been very kind to us. We have been through a war 
which lasted only a little more than one hundred days, 
a war happily not on our own, but on distant shores. 
And in that short period we sent our boys — and your 
contribution was among them— seven thousand miles 
by sea. And yet in that short period we have achieved 
a victory which will be memorable in history. There 
has been nothing like it recorded in military annals. 

Now, having triumphed in war, we must be sure that 
in the settlements of the war we shall see that justice 
and righteousness and humanity shall prevail. [Ap- 
plause.] The work is now with you; for j in a govern- 
ment like ours the people constitute the power of the 
government. It rests and resides with you, and your 
will is the command to Congress and to the Executive, 
and is at last formed into public law and public policy. 
[Applause.] 

I am glad to know that my countrymen are thinking 
of the serious problems that are before them and before 
us, and I pray God we may have the wisdom to settle 
them with the same humanity with which our soldiers 
fought our great battles. [Cheers.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 147 



LXXXIV. 

Speech at Connersville, Indiana, October 21, 1898. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

The mercifulness of the war through which we have 
passed was one of the triumphs of American civiliza- 
tion. There was more humanity in it, more humane 
treatment of our adversary, than had probably ever 
characterized a previous war. For example, we sent 
medicines to the sick before we sent our men-of-war; 
we sent succor to the suffering before we sent our 
squadi'on ; the sweet charity of the American people 
preceded the armored cruisers of the country. And 
when it was all over, the victorious commanders said to 
the defeated adversary, ''Take your side-arms"— not 
"your side-arms and go home," but, "Take your side- 
arms and we will send you home." [Applause.] So 
that, so far as the war is concerned, we not only dis- 
played great heroism, but we manifested great human- 
ity; and I trust that in the final settlements of that 
conflict humanity will triumph, just as it triumphed in 
the war. [Great applause.] 



148 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



LXXXV. 

Remaeks at College Corner, Indiana, 
October 21, 1898. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

If I had ever been uncertain about the size of Indi- 
ana, that uncertainty has been dispelled to-day. I have 
been speaking since seven o'clock this morning to vast 
audiences at every station from Logansport to your 
town. And now the time has come when I must say 
fareweU to Indiana and give hail to my native State. 
[Great applause.] 

LXXXVI. 

Speech at Oxford, Ohio, October 21, 1898. 

My Felloiv-Citizens : 

Old Oxford is the first to give me welcome to my na- 
tive State. I am glad to be in this noted college town— 
a town that educates not only the young men, but the 
young women who are about me to-day. And I recall 
that your university has furnished to the public service 
some of its most conspicuous men, and others who are 
prominent in every walk and profession of life. I am 
glad to know that in Ohio, as in all the States where I 
have visited, the people feel delighted that the war is 
over, and that triumph has been given once more to the 
American arms, and are grateful to the army and the 
navy for their unprecedented victory. [Great applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 149 

LXXXVII. 

Speech at Hamilton, Ohio, October 21, 1898. 

3fi/ Fellow-Citizens: 

I recall with the pleasantest memories my former 
visits to yoiir city, and whatever political differences 
there may have been among us then, you have always 
accorded me an attentive hearing and given me a 
cordial welcome. I am prepared, therefore, to find to-day 
that your hearts are just as warm as in the former days. 

The country has had some notable events occurring in 
the past five months— events which have added luster 
to our history, and given a new and added meaning to 
American valor. Your city, Kke all the other cities of 
the country, contributed its full share of the army 
that made the assaults on San Juan hill and Manila [ap- 
plause], and you have heroes in your community whom, 
I am sure, you are glad to honor. No nation ever had a 
more superb army than mustered in thirty days, under 
the flag of the Union, to fight for the honor of the coun- 
try and for the oppressed so near our shores. [Ap- 
plause.] Our dear old flag, if possible, is still more dear 
and sacred to us to-day than it has ever been before. It 
represents more than it ever did before. It floats 
where it never floated before. [Great applause.] And 
I trust, my fellow-countrymen,— for I will not detain 
you longer,— I trust that when we come to write the 
final conclusions of this struggle into the permanent 
form of treaty, they shall be based on justice and right 
and humanity. [Prolonged cheering.] 



150 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



LXXXVIII. 

Rejiarks at Wiljiington, Omo, October 21, 1898. 

My Felloiv-Citizens : 

I cannot conceal the pleasure which I feel that you 
have come out this rainy night to give me welcome. I 
remember, with the kindliest recollections, the frequent 
visits which I have made to Wilmington and Clinton 
County in the years that have gone by. [Cheers.] 
There is something very close and tender about the 
relationship of citizens of the same State, and I never 
shall forget that years ago, and for long years, you 
committed to my care great responsibilities, and gave 
to me unstinted confidence. [Prolonged applause.] 

LXXXIX. 

Reiviarks at Washington Court-House, Ohio, 
October 21, 1898. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

It has been a great while since I addressed the people 
of Washington Court-House. I remember many times 
in years past to have spoken to your people upon public 
questions upon which you were more or less divided. I 
am glad to know now that in the contest through which 
we have just passed, and in the conclusions which are 
to be reached, there is little division of sentiment among 
Americans. Men of all parties, men of all sections, 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. ir.l 

have shared in the glories of the war, and have contrib- 
uted of their bravest and their best to make that war 
successful. And now that hostilities have been sus- 
pended, it only remains for the people to see to it that 
there shall be written in the treaty of peace what was 
justly and fairly won by our military and naval 
triumphs. [Great applause.] 



XC. 

Speech at Colibibus, Ohio, October 21, 1898. 

Mr. Mayor, my Felloiv-Citkens : 

It is not in the unconsidered language of compliment, 
but with deep emotion that I undertake to make re- 
sponse to the generous welcome extended on behalf of 
the city of Columbus by your honored mayor. It seems 
to me like coming back home. [Great applause.] The 
familiar faces I see about me, the familiar songs I have 
heard, all make me feel that I am among my old friends 
with whom for four years I Kved. [Applause.] I recall 
no four years of public service that gave me more plea- 
sure than while serving this State, and not the least of 
that pleasure was the kindly social relations I had with 
the people of this capital city. [Applause.] 

Very much has happened since I last met you in pub- 
lic assembly. The nation has been at war, not because 
it wanted war, but because it preferred it rather than 
to witness at its very door the sufferings of an op- 
pressed people. [Cheers.] "We entered upon it for no 
other purpose but that of humanity— no desii'e for new 
territory, no motive of aggrandizement, but that we 



152 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

might stop the oppression of a neighboring people whose 
cry we could almost hear. Happily for us, with our 
splendid army and our no less splendid navy, the war was 
concluded in a little more than one hundred days. 
Nothing like it in the military annals of the world ! 
We sent our troops seven thousand miles by sea in the 
east. We sent them to the south. We had our squadron 
in Manila and our fleet in Santiago, which destroyed both 
Spanish fleets. [Cheers.] AU honor to the army and the 
navy of the United States ! [Cheering.] All honor to the 
regulars and the volunteers [cheering], and to the marines 
[cheers], black and white, of every nationality [cheers], 
who marched under the glorious banner of the free to a 
victory for God and civilization. [Enthusiastic cheering.] 
All honor to our sailors and seamen ! [Cheers.] We had 
altogether too few ships, but they had a mighty arma- 
ment, and behind them were men. [Tremendous cheer- 
ing.] They have done their work. They have wrought 
well. It remains for us now to finish the task and write 
in public treaty the agreements of peace. [Applause.] 

Short as was the war, many of our brave boys went 
down in battle, never to rise again. They fell under the 
Stars and Stripes, fighting for humanity. Whether in 
camp or in field, on the battle-line, in the trenches, or on 
the battle-ship, they gave up their lives for their coun- 
try's cause. Nor do I forget, standing in this presence, 
that that rugged old soldier. Colonel Poland [applause], 
and that other rugged soldier. Colonel Haskell [ap- 
plause], brave commanders of the gallant Seventeenth 
Infantry [applause], have passed from human sight. 
They gave all they had, the best that any man has,— 
his own life,— on the altar of their country. The 
brave boys fell at Santiago, making the charge of San 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 153 

Juan hill ; at El Caney, at Guantanamo, and at Manila 
and Porto Rico 

They fell devoted but undying ; 
The very gale their names seem'd sighing; 
The waters murmur'd of their name ; 
The woods were peopled with their fame ; 
The silent pillar, lone and gi'ey, 
Claim'd kindred with their sacred clay ; 
Their spirits vsTapt the dusky mountain ; 
Their memory sparkled o'er the fountain ; 
The meanest rill, the mightiest river, 
EoU'd mingling with their fame forever. 

Nor do I forget the promptness with which the brave 
boys of Ohio responded to the call of the President. 
[Applause.] Within forty-eight hours Ohio's quota was 
full. [Applause.] You will be glad to know that the 
Fourth Ohio [applause], made up of your sons, taken 
from your own homes and your own firesides, blood of 
your blood, did gallant service in Porto Rico, and in the 
very near future will be brought back to reunited homes. 

My countrymen, the past is secure. We know the 
extent of our country now. Some additions have been 
made since I left you. [Laughter and applause.] Our 
flag floats triumphantly over Porto Rico. [Applause.] 
Our troops are in unquestioned possession of that isl- 
and. The same flag floats over Hawaii. [Applause.] 
We know what our country is now in its territory, but 
we do not know what it may be in the near future. 
[Applause.] But whatever it is, whatever obligation 
shall justly come from this strife for humanity, we must 
take up and perform, and as free, strong, brave people, 
accept the trust which civilization puts upon us. [En- 
thusiastic cheers and applause.] 



154 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 



XCI. 

Reiharks at Newark, Ohio, October 21, 1898. 

Fellow-Citizens : 

I am very glad to meet you all, I used to come liere 
often in the years gone by, and I remember with the 
greatest pleasure and satisfaction the warm welcome 
you always extended to me. [Applause.] It is a great 
compliment, at this hour of the night, and in this in- 
clement weather, for you to give me this manifestation 
of your good will. I wish for all of you the greatest 
prosperity and happiness. [Great applause.] 

XCIL 

Reiharks at the Union League Banquet, 
Philadelphia, October 26, 1898. 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : 

I can make no response to the toast just offered by 
your chairman so grateful to my own heart as to ask 
you all to join with me in toasting the army and navy 
of the United States [applause], and the government 
officers assembled about this table, who very well typify 
the valor and sacrifices of the soldiers and sailors of the 
republic. They bore these old flags in triumphant vic- 
tory, and they brought them back to us with added 
glory ; and without their service and sacrifice we could 
not celebrate the brilliant victories of the war. So I 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 155 

ask you to join with me in toasting the magnificent 
army and navy of the United States. [Great applause.] 



XCIII. 

Speech at the Banquet of the Clover Club, 
Phd^adelphl^; October 27, 1898. 

ft.- - 

Mr. President and Gentlemen : 

I cannot forego making acknowledgment to this far- 
famed club for the permission it has granted me to 
meet with you here to-night. 

It has been most gratifying to me to participate with 
the people of the city of Philadelphia in this great pa- 
triotic celebration, a pageant the like of which I do not 
believe has been seen since the close of the great Civil 
War, when the armies of Grant and Sherman and Sheri- 
dan, and the navy of Dupont and Dahlgren and Porter 
gave the great review in the capital city of the nation. 
I know of no more fitting place to have a patriotic cele- 
bration than in this city, which witnessed the earliest 
consecration of liberty to the republic. 

And as T stood on the reviewing stand, witnessing 
the soldiers and sailors passing by, my heart was filled 
only with gratitude— gratitude to the God of battles, 
who has so favored us, and gratitude to the brave 
soldiers and sailors who have won such signal victories 
on land and sea, and who have given a new meaning to 
American valor. 

It has been especially gratifying to me to participate, 
not only with the people of Philadelphia, but with the 
people of the great West, where I have recently visited, 



156 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

in doing honor to the American army and the American 
navJ^ No nobler soldiers or sailors ever assembled 
under a flag. [Great applause.] 

You had with you to-day the heroes of Santiago and 
Porto Rico and Guantanamo. We, unfortunately, had 
none of the heroes of Manila with us, and I am sure our 
hearts go out to them to-night— to brave Dewey [great 
applause], and to Merritt and Otis [great applause], and 
all the other gallant men who are now sustaining the 
flag in that distant harbor and city. [Great applause.] 

Gentlemen, the American people are always ready for 
any emergency, and if a Merrimac is to be sunk there is 
always some one found to do it, and the young lieu- 
tenant succeeded in doing what our foe has never been 
able to do— sink an American ship. [Great applause.] 

So I ask you, gentlemen of the Clover Club, to unite 
with me in toasting the army and the navy of the 
United States, without whose valor and sacrifice we 
could not celebrate the victory we have been celebrat- 
ing to-day— not only the men at the front, not only the 
men who are on the battle-ship and the battle-line, but 
the men at home praying to go to fight the battles for 
humanity and civilization. [Great applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 157 



XCIY. 

Reiviarks to First District of Coltoibia Regdient, 
U. S. Volunteers, at Convention Hall, Washing- 
ton, D. C, November 17, 1898. 

Mr. Commissioner and Soldiers of the First Regiment, 
District of Columbia : 
It has given me very great pleasure to join with your 
fellow-citizens in participating in the exercises which 
give honor to this regiment. It was my good fortune 
to look into your faces before you started for the front ; 
it was my good fortune to look into your faces upon 
your return. When you started I was iilled with hope ; 
when you returned I had a feeling of full realization 
that you had quite performed the high expectations I 
had for you. All mankind admires valor. This regi- 
ment did its whole duty, and that is all you can say of 
any soldier. You went where you were ordered — loy- 
ally, unmurmuringly. You did every duty that was 
assigned you, and you came back from the field and ex- 
posure with new honors added to the flag you carried 
from the city of Washington. I am glad it is j)ossible 
to muster you out of the service, and yet I regret very 
much to see this splendid body of men leave the service 
of the United States. But I fully console myself, in 
standing here at the very threshold of your muster out, 
with the feeling that, if your country needed you to- 
morrow, every man would be ready to respond. [Great 
applause.] 



158 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



xcv. 

Speech before the Legislature in Joint Assembly 
AT the State Capitol, Atlanta, Georgia, Decem- 
ber 14, 1898. 

3Ir. President and Gentlemen : 

It is with more than common pleasure that I meet 
these representatives of this great State. I am more 
than glad to be with you here at this time and share 
with you in the general rejoicing over the signing of the 
treaty of peace between the United States and Spain. 

Sectional lines no longer mar the map of the United 
States. [Great applause.] Sectional feeling no longer 
holds back the love we bear each other. [Applause.] 
Fraternity is the national anthem, sung by a chorus of 
forty-five States and our Territories at home and beyond 
the seas. [Applause.] The Union is once more the 
common altar of our love and loyalty, our devotion and 
sacrifice. The old flag again waves over us in peace, 
with new glories which your sons and ours have this 
year added to its sacred folds. Wliat cause we have 
for rejoicing, saddened only by the fact that so many of 
our brave men fell on the field or sickened and died from 
hardship and exposure, and others returning bring 
wounds and disease from which they will long suffer. 
The memory of the dead will be a precious legacy, and 
the disabled will be the nation's care. [Applause.] 

A nation which cares for its disabled soldiers as we 
have always done will never lack defenders. The na- 
tional cemeteries for those who fell in battle are proof 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 159 

that the dead as well as the living have our love. What 
an army of silent sentinels we have, and with what 
loving care their graves are kept ! Every soldier's 
grave made during our unfortunate Civil "War is a trib- 
ute to American valor. [Applause.] And while, when 
those graves were made, we differed widely about the 
future of this government, those differences were long 
ago settled by the arbitrament of arms; and the time 
has now come, in the evolution of sentiment and feeling 
under the providence of God, when in the spirit of fra- 
ternity we should share with you in the care of the 
graves of the Confederate soldiers. [Tremendous ap- 
plause and long-continued cheering.] 

The cordial feeling now happily existing between the 
North and South prompts this gracious act, and if it 
needed further justification, it is found in the gallant 
loyalty to the Union and the flag so conspicuously 
shown in the year just past by the sons and grand- 
sons of these heroic dead. [Tremendous applause.] 

What a glorious future awaits us if unitedly, wisely, 
and bravely we face the new problems now pressing 
upon us, determined to solve them for right and hu- 
manity ! [Prolonged applause and repeated cheers.] 

XCVI. 

Speech at the Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia, 
December 15, 1898. 

Governor Candler, President Hemphill, Ladies and Gentle- 
men : 
I cannot withhold from this people my profound 
thanks for their hearty reception and the good will 



160 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

which they have shown me everywhere and in every 
way since I have been their guest. I thank them for 
the opportunity which this occasion gives me of meeting 
them, and for the pleasure it affords me to participate 
with them in honoring the army and the navy, to whose 
achievements we are indebted for one of the most bril- 
liant chapters of American history. 

Other parts of the country have had their public 
thanksgivings and jubilees in honor of the historic 
events of the past year, but nowhere has there been 
greater rejoicing than among the people here, the gath- 
ered representatives of the South. I congratulate them 
upon their accurate observation of events, which en- 
abled them to fix a date which insured them the privi- 
lege of being the first to celebrate the signing of the 
treaty of peace by the American and Spanish commis- 
sioners. Under hostile fire on a foreign soil, fighting 
in a common cause, the memory of old disagreements 
has faded into history. From camp and campaign 
there comes the magic healing which has closed ancient 
wounds and effaced their scars. For this result every 
American patriot will forever rejoice. It is no small 
indemnity for the cost of the war. 

This government has proved itself invincible in the 
recent war, and out of it has come a nation which will 
remain indivisible forevermore. [Applause.] No worthier 
contributions have been made in patriotism and in men 
than by the people of these Southern States. When at 
last the opportunity came they were eager to meet it, and 
with promptness responded to the call of country. In- 
trusted with the able leadership of men dear to them, who 
had marched with their fathers under another flag, now 
fighting under the old flag again, they have gloriously 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. lei 

helped to defend its spotless folds, and added new luster 
to its shining stars. That flag has been planted in two 
hemispheres, and there it remains the symbol of liberty 
and law, of peace and progress. [Great applause.] Who 
will withdraw from the people over whom it floats its 
protecting folds 1 Wlio will haul it down "? Answer me, 
ye men of the South, who is there in Dixie who will 
haul it down! [Tremendous applause.] 

The victory we celebrate is not that of a ruler, a 
President, or a Congress, but of the people. [Applause.] 
The army whose valor we admire, and the navy whose 
achievements we api3laud, were not assembled by draft 
or conscription, but from voluntary enlistment. The 
heroes came from civil as well as military life. Trained 
and untrained soldiers wrought our triumphs. 

The peace we have won is not a selfish truce of arms, 
but one whose conditions presage good to humanity. 
The domains secured under the treaty yet to be acted 
upon by the Senate came to us not as the result of a 
crusade or conquest, but as the reward of temperate, 
faithful, and fearless response to the call of conscience, 
which could not be disregarded by a liberty-loving and 
Christian people. 

We have so borne ourselves in the conflict and in our 
intercourse with the powers of the world as to escape 
complaint or complication, and give universal confidence 
in our high purpose and unselfish sacrifices for strug- 
gling peoples. The task is not fulfilled. Indeed, it is 
only just begun. The most serious work is stiU before 
us, and every energy of heart and mind must be bent, 
and the impulses of partizanship subordinated, to its 
faithful execution. This is the time for earnest, not 

faint, hearts. 
11 



w^ 



162 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

'' New occasions teach new duties." To this nation 
and to every nation there come formative periods in its 
life and history. New conditions can be met only by 
new methods. Meeting these conditions hopefully, and 
facing them bravely and wisely, is to be the mightiest 
test of American virtue and capacity. Without aban- 
doning past limitations, traditions, and principles, by 
meeting present opj^ortunities and obligations, we 
shall show ourselves worthy of the great trusts which 
civilization has imposed upon us. [Great applause.] 

At Bunker Hill liberty was at stake ; at Gettysburg 
the Union was the issue ; before Manila and Santiago 
our armies fought, not for gain or revenge, but for hu- 
man rights. They contended for the freedom of the 
oppressed, for whose welfare the United States has 
never failed to lend a helping hand to estabhsh and up- 
hold, and, I believe, never will. The glories of the war 
cannot be dimmed, but the result will be incomplete 
and unworthy of us unless supplemented by civil vic- 
tories, harder possibly to win, but in their way no less 
indispensable. [Great applause.] 

We will have our difficulties and our embarrassments. 
They follow all victories and accompany all great re- 
sponsibilities. They are inseparable from every great 
movement or reform. But American capacity has tri- 
umphed over all in the past. [Applause.] Doubts have 
in the end vanished. Apparent dangers have been 
averted or avoided, and our own history shows that 
progress has come so naturally and steadily on the heels 
of new and grave responsibilities that, as we look back 
upon the acquisitions of territory by our fathers, we 
are filled with wonder that any doubt could have ex- 
isted or any apprehension could have been felt of the 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. les 

wisdom of their action or their capacity to grapple with 
the then untried and mighty problems. [Great a]3- 
plause.] 

The republic is to-day larger, stronger, and better 
prepared than ever before for wise and profitable devel- 
opment in new directions and along new lines. Even 
if the minds of some of our own people are still dis- 
turbed by perplexing and anxious doubts, in which all 
of us have shared and still share, the genius of Ameri- 
can civiHzation will, I believe, be found both original 
and creative, and capable of subserving all the great in- 
terests which shall be confided to our keeping. [Ap- 
plause.] 

Forever in the right, following the best impulses and 
cHnging to high purposes, using proj^erly and within 
right limits our power and opportunities, honorable re- 
ward must inevitably follow. The outcome cannot be 
in doubt. We could have avoided all the difficulties 
that lie across the pathway of the nation if a few months 
ago we had coldly ignored the piteous appeals of the 
starving and oppressed inhabitants of Cuba. If we 
had blinded ourselves to the conditions so near our 
shores, and turned a deaf ear to our suffering neighbors, 
the issue of territorial expansion in the Antilles and the 
East Indies would not have been raised. 

But could we have justified such a course? [Gen- 
eral cry of " No ! "] Is there any one who would now 
declare another to have been the better course ? [Cries 
of "No !"] With less humanity and less courage on our 
part, the Spanish flag, instead of the Stars and Stripes, 
would stiU be floating at Cavite, at Ponce, and at San- 
tiago, and a " chance in the race of life " would be 
wanting to millions of human beings who to-day call 



164 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

this nation noble, and who, I trust, will live to call it 
blessed. 

Thus far we have done our supreme duty. Shall we 
now, when the victory won in war is written in the 
treaty of peace, and the civilized world applauds and 
waits in expectation, turn timidly away from the duties 
imposed upon the country by its own great deeds ? And 
when the mists fade away and we see with clear vision, 
may we not go forth rejoicing in a strength which has 
been employed solely for humanity and always tem- 
pered with justice and mercy, confident of our ability to 
meet the exigencies which await us, because confident 
that our course is one of duty and our cause that of 
right? [Prolonged applause.] 

XCVII. 

Speech at the Banquet at Atlanta, Georgia, 
December 15, 1898. 

Mr. Toastmaster, Gentlemen : 

I am not a stranger to your hospitality. You have 
always given me a courteous and cordial reception. My 
first visit was under the auspices of your fellow-citizen, 
Captain Howell, and another distinguished Georgian, 
the brilliant Grady, since called from the field of activ- 
ity where he was at the height of his usefulness, and 
where the whole nation could illy spare him, and sor- 
rowed at his xintimely death. Then we were engaged 
in an economic discussion, in which honest difi'erences of 
opinion prevailed and heated discussion ruled the hour. 
I do not forget that then, although advocating the 
theory of taxation seemingly opposed to the majority 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. i65 

sentiment of your State and city, you accorded me an 
impartial hearing. Stranger that I was to all of you, 
you made me feel at home, and from that hour Atlanta 
won my heart. [Applause.] My subsequent visits have 
only served to increase my admiration for your enter- 
prising city. 

Four years have gone since I last met the people of 
Georgia in pubhc assembly. Much has happened in the 
intervening time. The nation has been at war, not within 
its own shores, but with a foreign power— a war waged, 
not for revenge or aggrandizement, but for our op- 
pressed neiglibors, for their freedom and amelioration. 
[Applause.] 

It was short but decisive. It recorded a succession 
of significant victories on land and sea. It gave new 
honors to American arms. It has brought new prob- 
lems to the republic, whose solution will tax the genius 
of our people. United we will meet and solve them 
with honor to ourselves and to the lasting benefit of all 
concerned. [Great applause.] The war brought us to- 
gether ; its settlement will keep us together. [Continued 
applause.] 

Reunited! Glorious realization! It expresses the 
thought of my mind and the long-deferred consumma- 
tion of my heart's desire as I stand in this presence. It 
interprets the hearty demonstration here witnessed, and 
is the patriotic refrain of all sections and of aU lovers 
of the republic. [Applause.] 

Reunited— one country again and one country for- 
ever ! Proclaim it from the press and pulpit ; teach it 
in the schools ; write it across the skies ! The world 
sees and feels it ; it cheers every heart North and South, 
and brightens the life of every American home. Let 



166 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

nothing- ever strain it again ! At peace with all the 
world and with one another, what can stand in the path- 
way of our progress and prosperity ? [Long-continued 
applause.] 

XCVIII. 

Speech at Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Insti- 
tute, TusKEGEE, Alabama, December 16, 1898. 

Teachers and Pupils of Tushegee : 

To meet you under such pleasant auspices and have 
the opportunity of a personal observation of your work 
is indeed most gratifying. The Tuskegee Normal and 
Industrial Institute is ideal in conception, and has al- 
ready a large and growing reputation in the country, 
and is not unknown abroad. I congratulate all who are 
associated in this undertaking for the good work which 
it is doing in the education of its students to lead lives 
of honor and usefulness, thus exalting the race for 
which it was established. 

Nowhere, I think, could a more delightful location 
have been chosen for this unique educational experi- 
ment, which has attracted the attention and won' the 
support even of conservative philanthropists in all sec- 
tions of the country. 

To speak of Tuskegee without paying special tribute 
to Booker T. Washington's genius and perseverance 
would be impossible. The inception of this noble enter- 
prise was his, and he deserves high credit for it. His 
was the enthusiasm and enterprise which made its 
steady progress possible, and established in the institu- 
tion its present high standard of accomplishment. He 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. i67 

has won a worthy reputation as one of the great 
leaders of his race, widely known and much respected 
at home and abroad as an accomplished educator, a 
great orator, and a true philanthropist. 

What steady and gratifying advances have been made 
here during the past fifteen years, a personal inspection 
of the material equipment strikingly proves. The pat- 
ronage and resources have been largely increased, until 
even the legislative department of the State of Alabama, 
and finally the Congress of the United States, recognized 
the worth of the work and the great opportunities 
here afforded. From one small frame house the Insti- 
tute has grown until it includes the fine group of dormi- 
tories, recitation-rooms, lecture-halls, and workshops 
which have so surj)rised and delighted us to-day. A 
thousand students, I am told, are here cared for by 
nearly a hundred teachers, all together forming, with 
the preparatory department, a symmetrical scholastic 
community which has been well called a model for the 
industrial colored schools of the South. Certain it is 
that a pupil bent on fitting himself or herself for me- 
chanical work can here have the widest choice of useful 
and domestic occupations. 

One thing I like about this institution is that its policy 
has been generous and progressive; it is not so self- 
centered or interested in its own pursuits and ambitions 
as to ignore what is going on in the rest of the country, 
or make it difficult for outsiders to share the local ad- 
vantages. I allude especially to the spirit in which the 
annual conferences have been here held by leading col- 
ored citizens and educators, with the intention of im- 
proving the condition of their less fortunate brothers 
and sisters. Here, we can see, is an immense field, and 



168 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

one which cannot too soon or too carefully be utilized. 
The conferences have grown in popularity, and are well 
calculated not only to encourage colored men and col- 
ored women in their individual efforts, but to cultivate 
and promote an amicable relationship between the two 
races — a problem whose solution was never more needed 
than at the present time. Patience, moderation, self- 
control, knowledge, character will surely win you vic- 
tories and realize the best aspirations of your people. 
An evidence of the soundness of the purposes of this 
institution is that those in charge of its management 
evidently do not believe in attempting the unattainable, 
and their instruction in self-reliance and practical in- 
dustry is most valuable. 

In common with the Hampton Institute in Virginia, 
the Tuskegee Institute has been, and is to-day, of in- 
estimable value in sowing the seeds of good citizenship. 
Institutions of their standing and worthy patronage 
form a steadier and more powerful agency for the good 
of all concerned than any other yet proposed or sug- 
gested. The practical is here associated with the aca- 
demic, encouraging both learning and industry. Here 
you learn to master yourselves, find the best adaptation 
of your faculties, with advantages for advanced learning 
to meet the high duties of life. 

No country, epoch, or race has a monopoly upon 
knowledge. Some have easier, but not necessarily bet- 
ter, opportunities for self-development. What a few 
can obtain free, most have to pay for, perhaps by hard 
physical labor, mental struggle, and self-denial. But in 
this great country all can have the opportunity for bet- 
tering themselves, provided they exercise intelligence 
and perseverance, and their motives and conduct are 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 169 

worthy. Nowhere are such faciKties for universal edu- 
cation found as in the United States. They are accessi- 
ble to every boy and girl, white or black. 

Integrity and industry are the best possessions which 
any man can have, and every man can have them. No- 
body can give them to him or take them from him. He 
cannot acquire them by inheritance ; he cannot buy 
them or beg them or borrow them. They belong to the 
individual and are his unquestioned property. He 
alone can part with them. They are a good thing to 
have and keep. They make happy homes ; they achieve 
success in every walk of life ; they have won the greatest 
triumphs for mankind. No man who has them ever 
gets into the police court or before the grand jury or in 
the workhouse or the chain-gang. They give one moral 
and material power. They will bring you a comfortable 
living, make 5'-ou respect yourself, and command the re- 
spect of your fellows. They are indispensable to suc- 
cess. They are invincible. The merchant requires the 
clerk whom he employs to have them. The railroad 
corporation inquires whether the man seeking employ- 
ment possesses them. Every avenue of human endea- 
vor welcomes them. They are the only keys to open 
with certainty the door of opportunity to struggling 
manhood. Employment waits on them ; capital re- 
quires them ; citizenship is not good without them. If 
you do not already have them, get them. 

To the pupils here assembled I extend my especial 
congratulations that the facilities for advancement 
afforded to them are so numerous and so inviting. 
Those who are here for the time being have the reputa- 
tion of the institution in charge, and should therefore 
be all the more careful to guard it worthily. Others 



170 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

who have gone before you have made great sacrij&ces to 
reach the present results. What you do will affect not 
only those who come after you here, but many men and 
women whom you may never meet. The results of your 
training and work here will eventually be felt, either di- 
rectly or indirectly, in nearly every part of the country. 
Most of you are young, and youth is the time best 
fitted for development both of the body and of the 
mind. Whatever you do, do with all your might, with 
will and purpose, not of the selfish kind, but looking to 
benefit j-our race and your country. In comparing the 
past with the present, you should be especially grateful 
that it has been your good fortune to come within the 
influences of such an institution as that of Tuskegee, 
and that you are under the guidance of such a strong 
leader. I thank him most cordially for the pleasure of 
visiting this institution, and I bring to all here associ- 
ated my good will and the best wishes of your country- 
men, wishing you the realization of success in whatever 
undertakings may hereafter engage you. 



XCIX. 

Speech to the General Assembly and Citizens in 
THE State Capitol, Montgojmery, Alaba]\l\, De- 
cember IG, 1898. 

Mr. President^ Gentlemen of the General Assemhhj, Fellow- 
Citizens : 
The warm heart- welcome which has been given to me 
by the citizens of Alabama has deeply touched me, and 
I cannot find language to express my gratitude and ap- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 171 

preciation. To be welcomed here in the city of Mont- 
gomery, the first capital of the Confederate States, 
warmly and enthusiastically welcomed as the President 
of a common country, has filled and thrilled me with 
emotion. Once the capital of the Confederacy, now the 
capital of a great State, one of the indestructible States 
of an indestructible Union ! 

The governor says he has nothing to take back. We 
have nothing to take back for having kept you in the 
Union. We are glad you did not go out, and you are 
glad you stayed in. [Tremendous applause.] 

Alabama, like all the States of the Union, North and 
South, has been loyal to the flag and steadfastly devoted 
to the American name and to American honor. There 
never has been in the history of the United States such 
a demonstration of patriotism, from one end of this 
country to the other, as in the year just passing ; and 
never has American valor been more brilliantly illus- 
trated in the battle-line on shore and on the battle-ship 
at sea than by the soldiers and sailors of the United 
States. Everybody is talking of Hobson, and justly so ; 
but I want to thank Mother Hobson in this presence. 
Everybody is talking about General Wheeler, one of the 
bravest of the brave ; but I want to speak of that sweet 
little daughter who followed him to Santiago [great ap- 
plause], and ministered to the sick soldiers at Montauk. 
[Cheers.] I have spoken at many places and at many 
times of the heroism of the American army and the 
American navy, but in our recent conflict the whole 
people were patriots. Two hundred thousand men were 
called for and a million rushed to get a place in the 
ranks. [Great applause.] And millions more stood 
ready if need be. [Prolonged applause.] 



172 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

I like the feeling of the American people tliat we 
ought not to have a large standing army; but it has 
been demonstrated in the last few months that we need 
the standing army large enough to do all the work re- 
quired while we are at peace, and can rely upon the 
great body of the people in an emergency to help us 
fight our battles. [Applause.] 

We love peace ; we are not a military nation : but 
whenever the time of peril comes, the bulwark of this 
people is the patriotism of its citizens ; and this nation 
will be safe for all time because seventy-five millions of 
people love it and will give up their lives to sustain 
and uphold it. [Great applause.] 

I thank you, my fellow-citizens, for this generous 
welcome which you have given me to-day, and I shall 
go back to my duties at our capital feeling that we have 
a united country that acknowledges allegiance to but 
one authority, and will march forever unitedly under 
one flag, the Stars and Stripes. [Tremendous cheer- 
ing and applause.] 



C. 



Speech at Banquet of Board of Trade and Asso- 
ciated Citizens, Savannah, Georgia, December 
17, 1898. 

Mr. President, Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

Words are poor indeed to respond fittingly to the 
earnest and heartfelt welcome which has been extended 
to me and those who accompany me since we have 
been in your historic city— a city whose life began be- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 173 

fore that of the government, and which has ever since 
kept pace with the progress and the glory of the govern- 
ment. I feel here to-night that once more the North 
and the South are together, and are now contending in 
generous rivalry to express their devotion to the institu- 
tions which they have established and the land which 
we all love. [Applause.] 

There is cause for congratulation that with the grave 
problems before us, growing out of the war with Spain, 
we are free from any divisions at home. 

Our financial and revenue policies cannot be changed 
for at least four years ; and whatever legislation may be 
had affecting them during that period will be to improve 
and strengthen, not destroy them. [Applause.] 

The public mind can, therefore, repose in reasonable 
security, while business will proceed without apprehen- 
sion of serious and sudden changes, so disturbing to the 
commercial world and so distracting to the business 
man. All of which is fortunate for the country, for 
every interest and every section of the country. Even 
those who desire other and different policies prefer per- 
manence to constant change, or, what is almost as hurt- 
ful, the fear of change. There are happily now no 
domestic differences to check the progress and prosper- 
ity of the country, which our peaceful relations with the 
whole world will encourage and strengthen. 

This is fortunate, too, in another sense. It leaves the 
country free to consider and discuss new questions 
which are immediately before us, unbiased by party or 
past political alliances. These new questions are to be 
thought out and wrought out, not in a spirit of par- 
tizanship, but in a spirit of patriotism ; not for the tem- 
porary advantage of one party or the other, but for the 



174 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

lasting advantage of the country. [Applause.] Neither 
prejudice nor passion nor previous condition can em- 
barrass the free action and calm judgment of the citizen. 
We have entered upon new paths. We are treading in 
an unexplored field which will test our wisdom and 
statesmanship. The chief consideration is one of duty ; 
our action must be controlled by it. No settlement is 
admissible which will not preserve our honor and pro- 
mote the best interests of all concerned. With a united 
country and the gathered wisdom of all the people, seek- 
ing only the right, inspired only by high purposes, 
moved only by duty and humanit}^, we cannot err. We 
may be baffled or deterred and often discouraged ; but 
final success in a cause which is altogether unselfish and 
humanitarian can only be deferred, not prevented. [Ap- 
plause.] 

If, following the clear precepts of duty, territory falls 
to us, and the welfare of an alien people requires our 
guidance and protection, who will shrink from the re- 
sponsibility, grave though it may be ? [Applause.] Can 
we leave these people, who, by the fortunes of war and 
our own acts, are helpless and without government, to 
chaos and anarchy, after we have destroyed the only 
government they have had ? [Applause.] Having de- 
stroyed their government, it is the duty of the American 
people to provide for them a better one. [Applause.] 
Shall we distrust ourselves, shall we proclaim to the 
world our inability to give kindly government to op- 
pressed peoples whose future by the victories of war 
is confided to us? We may wish it were otherwise, 
but who will question our duty now ? It is not a question 
of keeping the islands of the East, but of leaving them. 
[Applause.] Dewey and Merritt took them [great 



OP WILLIAM McKINLEY. 175 

applause], and the country instantly and universally ap- 
plauded. Could we have brought Dewey away without 
universal condemnation at any time from the 1st of May, 
the day of his brilliant victory which thrilled the world 
with its boldness and heroism ? [Great applause.] Was 
it right to order Dewey to go to Manila and capture or 
destroy the Spanish fleet, and despatch Merritt and his 
army to reinforce him ? [Cries of '' Yes ! " Great ap- 
plause.] If it was duty to send them there, and duty 
required them to remain there, it was then* clear duty to 
annihilate the fleet, take the city of Manila, and destroy 
the Spanish sovereignty in the archipelago. [Continued 
applause.] Having done all that in the line of duty, 
is there any less duty to remain there and give to the 
inhabitants protection and also our guidance to a better 
government, which will secure to them peace and order 
and security in their life and property and in the pur- 
suit of happiness? [Applause.] Are we unable to do 
this? [General cry of '* No !"] Are we to sit down in 
our isolation and recognize no obligation to a struggling 
people whose present conditions we have contributed to 
make ? I would rather have the confidence of the poet 
Bryant, when he exclaims : 

Thou, my coimtry, thou shalt never fall— 

Seas and stormy air 

Are the wide barrier of thy borders, where 

Among thy gallant sons that guard thee well 

Thou laugh'st at enemies. Who shall then declare 

The date of thy deep-founded strength, or tell 

How happy, in thy lap, the sons of men shall dwell? 

My fellow-citizens, whatever covenants dutj^ has made 
for us in the year 1898 we must keep. [Enthusiastic 
and prolonged applause.] 



176 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



CI. 



Speech at Georgia Agricultural and Mechanical 
College, Savannah, December 18, 1898. 

Fellow-Citizens : 

This scene has profoundly impressed me, and I 
have been deeply moved by the eloquent words and 
the exalted sentiments which have been uttered by the 
two gentlemen whom you delegated to speak in your 
behalf. It gives me peculiar pleasure to meet you, and 
to meet you in this institution of learning, presided over 
by one whom I have known for more than twenty years, 
and whom I have come to admire and respect as one of 
the leaders of your race. I congratulate him and all 
associated with him in the good work done here for the 
exaltation of your people. I congratulate all of you upon 
the advance made by you in the last third of a century. 
You are entitled to all the praise and high commenda- 
tion which, I am sure, you receive from your white 
fellow-citizens in this and every part of the country. 

I congratulate you upon your acquirement of prop- 
erty. Many of your race have large properties on the 
tax lists in the several States, and in that way contribute 
proportionately to the support of the government. 

I congratulate you on what you have done in learning 
and the acquirement of useful knowledge ; and on the fact 
that in the United States there is not a foot of ground 
beneath the flag where every boy and every girl, white 
or black, cannot have an education to fit them for the 
battle of life. 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 177 

Keep on, is the word I would leave with you to-day. 
Keep on in the efforts upward, but remember that in 
acquiring knowledge there is one thing equally impor- 
tant, and that is character. Nothing in the whole wide 
world is worth so much, will last so long, and serve its 
possessor so well as good character. It is something 
that no one can take from you, that no one can give to 
you. You must acquire it for yourself. 

There is another thing. Do not forget the home. 
The home is the foundation of good individual life and 
of good government. Cultivate good homes, make them 
pure and sweet, elevate them, and other good things 
will follow. I congratulate you that this institution is 
not only looking after the head, but after the hand. I 
congratulate you that it is making not only good orators, 
but good mechanics. It is better to be a skilled me- 
chanic than a poor orator or an indifferent preacher. 
[Great applause.] In a word, each of you must want to 
be best in whatever you undertake. Nothing in the 
world commands more respect than skill and industry. 
Every avenue is open to them. 

I congratulate you upon the valor of your race. My 
friend, the president of your coUege, has made an allu- 
sion in his speech to what, many years ago, I said in 
a public address. I told of a white colonel who had 
delivered the flag of our country to his black color- 
sergeant, and said to him : 

" Sergeant, I place in your hand this sacred flag. 
Fight for it, yes, die for it, but never surrender it to 
the hands of the enemy." 

That black soldier, with love of country and pride in 

his heart, answered: '^I wiU bring the flag back in 

honor, colonel, or report to God the reason why." 
12 



178 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

In one battle, in carrying that flag of freedom, lie was 
stricken down. He fell with the folds of the flag 
wrapped about him, bathed in his blood. He did not 
bring it back, but God knew the reason why. He did 
all he could, all any man could. He gave his heart's 
blood for the flag. 

At San Juan hill and at El Caney— but General 
Wheeler is here [great applause] ; I know he can tell you 
better than I can of the heroism of the black regiments 
which fought side by side with the white troops on 
those historic fields. 

Mr. Lincoln was right when, speaking of the black 
men, he said that the time might come when they would 
help to preserve and extend freedom. And in a third 
of a century you have been among those who have given 
liberty in Cuba to an oppressed people. 

I leave with you this one word : Keep on. You will 
solve your own problem. Be patient, be progressive, 
be determined, be honest, be God-fearing, and you will 
win, for no effort fails that has a stout, honest, earnest 
heart behind it. [Great applause.] 



CII. 
Speech at Macon Georgia, December 19, 1898. 

Felloiv- Citizens : 

It gives me very great pleasure to visit the city of 
Macon, with many of whose citizens I have been as- 
sociated in public life. It has given me pleasure to 
witness the review of the soldiers of the United 
States. How much, indeed, has this nation to be thank- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 179 

f ul for at this hour ! With what reverent gratitude we 
should express our thankfulness to a divine Providence 
that has so tenderly cared for the American people ! We 
have been at war with a foreign power. That war ended 
after one hundred and thirteen days of conflict— a con- 
flict on two oceans, a conflict in the West and East 
Indies, twelve thousand miles apart ; with fifty thousand 
of our own soldiers on distant shores, and twenty thou- 
sand sailors and marines afloat ; with a loss in army and 
navy of less than two thousand, and without the loss of 
ship or sailor or soldier or flag by capture. [Applause.] 
Never was there a more magnificent army mustered, and 
never was there an army mustered for a holier cause, or 
under a more glorious flag than the Stars and Stripes. 
[Cheers and great applause.] 

On the twenty -fourth day of this month, the day before 
Christmas, our peace commissioners will deliver to the 
President of the United States a treaty of peace— peace 
with honor, peace with the blessings of liberty to 
struggling peoples. East and West. [Applause.] 

I congratulate my country upon another fact. We 
have not only triumphed over our enemy, but we have 
triumphed over our own prejudices and are now a united 
country. [Prolonged applause and cheers.] 

It has done my heart good to witness the demonstra- 
tions of patriotism from one end of this country to the 
other. Six weeks ago I went to the extreme West. I 
met the wave of patriotism there. I come to the South 
and I witness the same spirit of loyalty and devotion to 
a common country, with a common faith, under a com- 
mon flag. [Applause.] 

I know this great audience wants to see the heroes of 
the war. [Applause.] They are here with you— Shafter 



180 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

and Wheeler and Lawton and Wilson and Bates and 
others who were conspicuous in the recent conflict. 
[Cheers.] And I give way that you may have the pleasure 
of meeting them and other distinguished gentlemen who 
are in my company as I journey through the South. 
[Great applause.] 

cm. 

Remarks at Milledgeville, Georgia, December 19, 

1898. 

My Fellow- Citizens : 

It is to me a very great pleasure to meet the citi- 
zens of Milledgeville, the old capital of the State of 
Georgia. In my trip through your State I have been 
received with a real warmth of welcome, and I as- 
sure you that it is appreciated from the depths of my 
heart. 

I am glad to know that once more this country, North 
and South, aU the people of all the sections, are animated 
by one purpose, one aim, one hope for a common des- 
tiny under the dear old banner of the free. [Great 
applause and cheers.] And nothing gives me more sat- 
isfaction than to feel that as the President, called by the 
suffrages of the people, I am permitted to preside over a 
nation, rich with glorious memories of glorious deeds, 
now united in an unbroken and never-to-be-broken 
Union. [Enthusiastic applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. isi 



CIV. 

Speech at Augusta, Georgia, December 19, 1898. 

Mr. Chairman, my Fellow-Citizens : 

I have been received by many people in many places, 
East and West, North and South, but nowhere have I 
had welcome that has given me greater pleasure than 
the one you extend to me here to-day. I wish it were in 
my power to make suitable response to the gracious and 
eloquent words of him whom you have chosen to speak 
in j^our behalf —my old friend, whom I met for the iirst 
time in the Congress of the United States. 

It is indeed an honor to me, and one that shall never 
be forgotten, to stand in the place associated with the 
names of Washington and Lafayette and Clay and Web- 
ster. It is also a pleasure to me to be in the city where 
that gallant cavalry officer, General Joe Wheeler, was 
born. [Applause.] It is a pleasure for me to meet in 
this welcome these veterans of the gray, these ex-Con- 
federate soldiers [applause], and to feel that in common 
with all their fellow-citizens their hearts are in touch with 
the aims and purposes of this great republic. [Applause.] 

What a wonderful country we have ! With what 
pride its contemplation fills us all ! When Washington 
was here we had a little over three millions of people. 
We have seventy-five millions to-day. We have added 
vastly to our territory. We are to-day the largest manu- 
facturing and the largest agricultural nation of the 
world. [Applause.] Our commerce floats on every sea ; 
and only day before yesterday I saw that a thousand 



182 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

tons of American ship's plates had been landed at Glas- 
gow, Scotland, and, what is even more significant, it was 
carried on a ship bearing the American flag. [Ap- 
plause.] 

I congratulate you upon the prosperity of the country. 
I congratulate you upon the progress it has made in the 
last third of a century; and I congratulate you more 
because as a people we are more united, more devoted to 
noble and common purposes than we have been since 
the foundation of the federal Union. [Applause.] There 
are no divisions now. We stood united before a for- 
eign foe. "We will stand united until every triumph of 
that war has been made permanent. [Applause.] 

This, my fellow-citizens, is a fitting conclusion of a 
most remarkable trip. Only as one star differs from 
another is this different from what has greeted us at 
every step. They have all been glorious ; and I leave 
this inspiring picture, I leave this wonderful manifes- 
tation of gracious hospitality, this scene of devoted- 
ness to country and flag, with memories that I shall 
carry with me so long as life lasts. [Applause.] And 
in this sentiment every one associated with me, I 
am sure, fully shares. I go back to my public duties 
at Washington strengthened by your warm hearts' 
touch [applause] and encouraged to meet the grave re- 
sponsibilities which await me as the servant of all the 
people, feeling that I shall have your support and your 
prayers that I may perform those duties to the honor 
of my country and to the best well-being of all con- 
cerned. [Prolonged applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. iss 



CV. 



Speech at Coluivibia, South Carolina, Decejviber 

19, 1898. 

My Fellotv-Citizens : 

This stop was not a part of our itinerary ; but it is as 
agreeable as it was unexpected that I am permitted to 
greet my fellow-citizens of the city of Columbia. I am 
glad to meet the citizens of the State and also the 
soldiers of the United States encamped in yom- vicinity. 
A government like ours rests upon the intelligence, 
morality, and patriotism of the people. These consti- 
tute our strength; and in a history of more than a 
hundred years filled with great achievements and 
marked by unparalleled progress, they have never 
failed. They make good citizenship, and good citizen- 
ship is necessary to material advancement. The ma- 
jority of the people have always been on the side of 
right action and good government. In this year 1898, 
one of the most glorious, there have been such mani- 
festations of good feeling, of good will, of loyalty, upon 
the part of all the people of all sections of the country, 
as have been unprecedented in our history. [Applause.] 
Each has rivaled the other in devotion to the old flag. 
[Applause.] It is a happy omen for our country in 
view of the vast problems that await us in the near 
future. And let us here in South Carolina, and in 
every other State of the American Union, devote our- 
selves to the preservation of this great political struc- 
ture, resolved that the " government of the people, by 



184 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

the people, and for the people shall not perish from 
the earth." It cannot so long as it continues deeply 
rooted in the affection of its citizens. [Applause.] 



CVI. 

Remarks at New London, Connecticut, 
February 16, 1899. 

My Felloiv-Citkens : 

This unexpected call upon the part of my fellow- 
citizens of the State of Connecticut is most gratifying 
to me. I congratulate you all upon the splendid busi- 
ness conditions of our country ; upon the patriotism of 
our people ; upon a peace that has been secured with 
honor to the valor of our soldiers on land and the hero- 
ism of our sailors on sea. We have a great country, 
one in which we all feel a just and sincere pride ; and 
to us, and to those who shall come after us, will be 
transmitted the responsibility of preserving unimpaired 
the liberty we now enjoy, and of carrying forward to 
future generations its free institutions. [Great ap- 
plause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. iss 



CVII. 



Speech at Dinner of the Hojie Market Club, 
Boston, February 16, 1899. 

Mr. President, Members of the Home Mar'ket Cluh, Ladies 
and Gentlemen : 

I have been deeply and profoundly moved by this 
manifestation of your good will and the cordial welcome 
extended by the governor of your great commonwealth, 
as well as by the chief executive officer of this the 
principal city of your State. I thank the governor of 
the commonwealth of Massachusetts, I thank the mayor 
of the city of Boston, for their warm and generous 
words of greeting. 

My fellow-citizens, the years go quickly. It seems 
not so long, but it is, in fact, six years, since it was my 
honor to be a guest of the Home Market Club. Much 
has happened in the intervening time. Issues which 
were then engaging us have been settled or put aside 
for larger and more absorbing ones. Domestic con- 
ditions have improved and are generally satisfactory. 
We have made progress in industry and have realized 
the prosperity for which we have been striving. We 
had four long years of adversity, which taught us some 
lessons that will never be unlearned, and which will 
be valuable in guiding our future action. We have not 
only been successful in our financial and business affairs, 
but in a war with a foreign power which has added 
great glory to American arms and a new chapter to 
American history. [Great applause.] 



186 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

I do not know why, in the year 1899, this republic has 
unexpectedly had placed before it mighty problems which 
it must face and meet. They have come and are here, 
and they could not be kept away. Many who were im- 
patient for the conflict a year ago, apparently heedless 
of its larger results, are the first to cry out against the 
far-reaching consequences of their own act. Those of 
us who dreaded war most, and whose every effort was 
directed to prevent it, had fears of new and grave prob- 
lems which might follow its inauguration. 

The evolution of events, which no man could control, 
has brought these problems upon us. Certain it is that 
they have not come through any fault on our own part, 
but as a high obligation ; and we meet them with clear 
conscience and unselfish purpose, and with good heart 
resolve to undertake their solution. [Applause.] 

War was declared in April, 1898, with practical una- 
nimity by Congress, and, once upon us, was sustained 
by like unanimity among the people. There had been 
many who tried to avert it, as, on the other hand, 
there were many who would have precipitated it at an 
early date. In its prosecution and conclusion the great 
majority of our countrymen of every section believed 
they were fighting in a just cause, and at home or at sea 
or in the field they had part in its glorious triumphs. 
It was the war of an undivided nation. Every great act 
in its progress, from Manila to Santiago, from Guam to 
Porto Rico, met universal and hearty commendation. 
The protocol commanded the practically unanimous ap- 
proval of the American people. It was welcomed by 
every lover of peace beneath the flag. 

The Philippines, like Cuba and Porto Rico, were in- 
trusted to our hands by the war, and to that great trust, 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. is? 

under the providence of God and in the name of human 
progress and ci\dlization, we are committed. [Great 
applause.] It is a trust we have not sought ; it is a 
trust from which we will not flinch. The American 
people wiU hold up the hands of their servants at home 
to whom they commit its execution, while Dewey and 
Otis and the brave men whom they command will have 
the support of the country in upholding our flag where 
it now floats, the symbol and assm-ance of liberty and 
justice. [Great applause.] 

What nation was ever able to write an accurate pro- 
gram of the war upon which it was entering, much less 
decree in advance the scope of its results? Congress 
can declare war, but a higher Power decrees its bounds 
and fixes its relations and responsibilities. The Presi- 
dent can direct the movements of soldiers in the field 
and fleets upon the sea, but he cannot foresee the close 
of such movements or prescribe their limits. He 
cannot anticipate or avoid the consequences, but he 
must meet them. No accurate map of nations engaged 
in war can be traced until the war is over, nor can 
the measure of responsibility be fixed till the last gun 
is fired and the verdict embodied in the stipulations of 
peace. 

We hear no complaint of the relations created by the 
war between this government and the islands of Cuba 
and Porto Rico. There are some, however, who regard 
the Philippines as in a different relation ; but whatever 
variety of views there may be on this phase of the 
question, there is universal agreement that the Philip- 
pines shall not be turned back to Spain. [Great ap- 
plause.] No true American consents to that. Even if 
unwilling to accept them ourselves, it would have been 



188 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

a weak evasion of duty to require Spain to transfer 
them to some other power or powers, and thus shirk 
our own responsibility. Even if we had had, as we did 
not have, the power to compel such a transfer, it could 
not have been made without the most serious inter- 
national complications. Such a course could not be 
thought of. And yet, had we refused to accept the ces- 
sion of them, we should have had no power over them, 
even for their own good. We could not discharge the 
responsibilities upon us until these islands became ours 
either by conquest or treaty. There was but one alter- 
native, and that was either Spain or the United States 
in the Philippines. [Prolonged applause.] The other 
suggestions—first, that they should be tossed into the 
arena of contention for the strife of nations ; or, second, 
be left to the anarchy and chaos of no protectorate at 
all— were too shameful to be considered. The treaty 
gave them to the United States. Could we have re- 
quired less and done our duty? [Cries of "No!"] 
Could we, after freeing the Filipinos from the dom- 
ination of Spain, have left them without government 
and without power to protect life or property or to per- 
form the international obligations essential to an inde- 
pendent state ? Could we have left them in a state of 
anarchy and justified ourselves in our own consciences 
or before the tribunal of mankind"? Could we have 
done that in the sight of God or man ? 

Our concern was not for territory or trade or empire, 
but for the people whose interests and destiny, without 
our willing it, had been put in our hands. [Great ap- 
plause.] It was with this feeling that, from the first day 
to the last, not one word or line went from the Executive 
in Washington to our military and naval commanders 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 189 

at Manila, or to our peace commissioners at Paris, that 
did not put as the sole purpose to be kept in mind, first 
after the success of our arms and the maintenance of 
our own honor, the welfare and happiness and the rights 
of the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands. [Great and 
long-continued applause.] Did we need their consent 
to perform a great act for humanity ? We had it in 
every aspiration of their minds, in every hope of 
their hearts. Was it necessary to ask their consent to 
capture Manila, the capital of their islands? [Laugh- 
ter.] Did we ask their consent to liberate them from 
Spanish sovereignty, or to enter Manila Bay and destroy 
the Spanish sea-power there ? We did not ask these 
things; we were obeying a higher moral obligation, 
which rested on us and which did not require any- 
body's consent. [Great applause and cheering.] We 
were doing our duty by them, as God gave us the light to 
see our duty, with the consent of our own consciences 
and with the approval of civilization. [Applause.] 
Every present obhgation has been met and fulfilled in 
the expulsion of Spanish sovereignty from their islands ; 
and while the war that destroyed it was in progress we 
could not ask their views. Nor can we now ask their 
consent. Indeed, can any one tell me in what form it 
could be marshaled and ascertained until peace and 
order, so necessary to the reign of reason, shall be se- 
cured and established ? [Applause.] A reign of terror 
is not the kind of rule under which right action and 
deliberate judgment are possible. It is not a good time 
for the liberator to submit important questions concern- 
ing liberty and government to the liberated while they 
are engaged in shooting down their rescuers. [Applause 
and cheering.] 



190 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

We have now ended the war with Spain. The treaty 
has been ratified by the votes of more than two thirds 
of the Senate of the United States, and by the judgment 
of nine tenths of its people. [Applause.] No nation was 
ever more fortunate in war or more honorable in its 
negotiations in peace. Spain is now eliminated from 
the problem. It remains to ask what we shall now do. 
I do not intrude upon the duties of Congress or seek to 
anticipate or forestall its action. I only say that the 
treaty of peace, honorably secured, having been ratified 
by the United States, and, as we confidently expect, 
shortly to be ratified by Spain, Congress will have the 
power, and I am sure the purpose, to do what, in good 
morals, is right and just and humane for these peoples 
in distant seas. [Applause.] 

It is sometimes hard to determine what is best to do, 
and the best thing to do is oftentimes the hardest. The 
prophet of evil would do nothing [laughter] because he 
flinches at sacrifice and effort, and to do nothing is 
easiest and involves the least cost. [Laughter.] On 
those who have things to do there rests a responsibility 
which is not on those who have no obhgations as doers. 
If the doubters were in a majority, there would, it is 
true, be no labor, no sacrifice, no anxiety, and no bur- 
den raised or carried; no contribution from our ease 
and purse and comfort to the welfare of others, or even 
to the extension of our resources to the welfare of our- 
selves. There would be ease, but alas ! there would be 
nothing done. 

But grave problems come in the life of a nation, how- 
ever much men may seek to avoid them. They come 
without our seeking,— why, we do not know, and it is 
not always given us to know,— but the generation on 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 19I 

which they are forced cannot avoid the responsibility 
of honestly striving for their solution. [Applause.] 
We may not know precisely how to solve them, but we 
can make an honest effort to that end, and if made in 
conscience, justice, and honor it will not be in vain. 

The future of the Philippine Islands is now in the 
hands of the American people. [Applause.] Until the 
treaty was ratified or rejected, the Executive Depart- 
ment of this government could only preserve the peace 
and protect life and property. That treaty now com- 
mits the free and enfranchised Filipinos to the guiding 
hand and the liberalizing influences, the generous sym- 
pathies, the uplifting education, not of their American 
masters, but of their American emancipators. [Great 
applause.] No one can tell to-day what is best for them 
or for us. I know no one at this hour who is wise 
enough or sufficiently informed to determine what form 
of government will best subserve their interests and 
our interests, their and our well-being. 

If we knew everything by intuition— and I sometimes 
think that there are those who believe that if we do not 
they do [laughter and applause]— we should not need 
information ; but, unfortunately, most of us are not in 
that happy state. This whole subject is now with Con- 
gress ; and Congress is the voice, the conscience, and 
the judgment of the American people. Upon their 
judgment and conscience can we not rely f I believe in 
them. I trust them. I know of no better or safer human 
tribunal than the people. [Great applause.] 

Until Congress shall direct otherwise, it will be the 
duty of the Executive to possess and hold the Philip- 
pines, giving to the people thereof peace and order and 
beneficent government; affording them every oppor- 



192 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

tunity to prosecute their lawful pursuits ; encouraging 
them in thrift and industry ; making them feel and know 
that we are their friends, not tlieir enemies, that their 
good is our aim, that their welfare is our welfare, but 
that neither their aspirations nor ours can be realized 
uutil our authority is acknowledged and unquestioned. 
[Loud and enthusiastic applause.] 

That the inhabitants of the Philippines will be bene- 
fited by this republic is my unshaken belief. That 
they will have a kindlier government under our guid- 
ance, and that they will be aided in every possible way 
to be a self-respecting and self-governing people, is as 
true as that the American people love liberty and have 
an abiding faith in their own government and in their 
own institutions. [Great applause.] No imperial designs 
lurk in the American mind. They are alien to American 
sentiment, thought, and purpose. Our priceless prin- 
ciples undergo no change under a tropical sim. They 
go with the flag. [Long-continued applause.] 

Why read ye not the changeless truth, 

The free can conquer but to save? [Great applause.] 

If we can benefit these remote peoples, who will ob- 
ject ? If, in the years of the future, they are established 
in government under law and liberty, who will regret 
our perils and sacrifices? Who will not rejoice in our 
heroism and humanity ? Always perils, and always after 
them safety; always darkness and clouds, but always 
shining through them the light and the sunshine; al- 
ways cost and sacrifice, but always after them the frui- 
tion of liberty, education, and civilization. [Enthusias- 
tic applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 193 

I have no light or knowledge not common to my 
countrymen. I do not prophesy. The present is all- 
absorbing to me. But I cannot bound my vision by the 
blood-stained trenches around Manila,— where every red 
drop, whether from the veins of an American soldier or 
a misguided Filipino, is anguish to my heart,— but by 
the broad range of future years, when that group of 
islands, under the impulse of the year just past, shall 
have become the gems and glories of those tropical seas— 
a land of plenty and of increasing possibilities ; a people 
redeemed from savage indolence and habits, devoted to 
the arts of peace, in touch with the commerce and trade 
of all nations, enjoying the blessings of freedom, of civil 
and religious liberty, of education, and of homes, and 
whose children and children's children shall for ages 
hence bless the American republic because it emanci- 
pated and redeemed their fatherland, and set them in 
the pathway of the world's best civilization. [Prolonged 
applause.] 

CVIII. 

Speech at G. A. R. Encampment, Boston, 
February 17, 1899. 

Mr. Commander, Comrades of the Grand Army of the Re- 
public : 
I count myself most fortunate to find, upon my visit 
to the city of Boston, my comrades of the Grand Army 
of the Republic in session in the same city, thus giving 
me an opportunity once again to look into your friendly 
faces and exchange the friendly greetings of comrade- 
ship with you. [Applause.] 

13 



194 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

You fought in a holy cause, which, under the provi- 
dence of God, triumphed. You fought in a cause which 
made this the freest and best and greatest government 
beneath the sun. As I heard your cheers this morning, 
I felt that you still had the old spirit of '61. [Pro- 
longed applause and cheers.] 

You were not only good soldiers, my comrades, main- 
taining in the battle's front the honor and integrity of 
the flag we loved so much, but since the war, as citi- 
zens, you have ever been loyal and faithful, preserving 
in peace the government which you secured in war. 

The sad feature about all these reunions is that our 
numbers are diminishing. Every annual roll-call dis- 
closes one or another of our comrades not present, but 
accounted for. They have gone to join their comrades 
on the other side, now in the majority. It has occurred 
to me, as it has to every old soldier of the war, that the 
conspicuous commanders, those who gave orders we 
loved to obey, have all gone from among us— Grant and 
Sherman and Sheridan and Logan and Hancock, and a 
long line besides, whose names are treasured in the 
memories of the soldiers of the republic. [Great ap- 
plause.] 

I am glad to meet you here this morning. I am glad 
to have had the opportunity of living, as you have had 
the opportunity of living, in this last year, when the 
American people have again manifested their patriot- 
ism, theii- love of country, their devotion to American 
honor. [Cheers.] 

May I suggest to you here this morning that you will 
have to increase the Grand Army of the Republic? I 
do not know how you will do it, but I want to see all 
the brave men of the Spanish War, North and South, in 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 195 

some great patriotic organization, and I know none 
better than the Grand Army of the Republic. [Shouts 
of " Good ! " and applause.] 



CIX. 

Speech to the General Court, Boston, 
February 17, 1899. 

Mr, Fresident, Gentlemen of the General Court: 

Although limited for time, I could not deny myself 
the honor of accepting the invitation, officially extended 
by joint resolution of your honorable body, which I had 
the pleasure of receiving from the hands of your distin- 
guished senior senator, Hon. George F. Hoar. I am 
not indifferent to your generous action, and it cannot 
be more sincere than the feeling of pleasui'e which I 
have in meeting the senators and representatives of the 
great commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

In this ancient capitol great public questions have 
had free discussion. Here great statesmen, whose names 
live in their country's history, have received their train- 
ing and voiced the enlightened opinions of their coun- 
trymen. Here, through the century, you have chosen 
your fellow-citizens to represent you in the councils of 
the nation through that great parliamentary body, the 
Senate of the United States. You have chosen well, and 
leaders you have never lacked. [Applause.] 

What illustrious men have thus borne the commission 
of the legislative body of the commonwealth of Massa- 
chusetts !— Adams and Pickering and Webster, Choate 
and Everett and Winthrop, Sumner, Wilson, and a long 



196 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

list besides, illustrious in the annals of your State and 
of the nation ; and those later statesmen, Hoar and 
Lodge, honored everywhere for their distinguished ser- 
vices to our common country. [Great applause.] 

It was in the Massachusetts House of Representatives 
that John A. Andrew made the speech for human liberty 
which touched the hearts of his fellow-citizens and made 
him your great war governor. [Applause.] And at 
one time the Speaker's chair of this legislative body was 
occupied by your former governor and representative in 
Congress, the able Secretary of the Navy, Hon. John 
D. Long, whose great department has added luster to 
the American navy and glory to the American name. 
[Great applause.] 

I am glad to be on this historic ground. It revives 
memories sacred in American life. It recalls the struggles 
of the founders of Massachusetts for liberty and inde- 
pendence. Their unselfish sacrifices, their dauntless 
courage, are the inspiration of all lovers of freedom 
everywhere. Their lives and character reach into every 
American home, and have stimulated the best aspira- 
tions of American manhood. 

In the beginning of our national existence, and even 
before, this was the home and fountain of liberty. It 
is the home of liberty now ; and I am sure that what 
these great men of the past secured for us they would 
have us not only transmit to our descendants, but carry 
to oppressed peoples whose interest and welfare by the 
fortunes of war are committed to us. [Great applause.] 

We may regard the situation before us as a burden 
or as an opportunity ; but whether the one or the other, 
it is here, and conscience and civilization require us to 
meet it bravely. Desertion of duty is not an American 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 197 

habit. It was not the custom of the fathers and will 
not be the practice of their sons. [Prolonged applause.] 



ex. 



Speech at the Coiumercial Club Reception, Boston, 
February 17, 1899. 

3fr. President and Gentlemen of the Commercial Club : 

My thanks are due first to the president of your asso- 
ciation for his generous words of welcome and his expres- 
sion of approval of that which has been accomplished in 
the past two years. I thank this club as a body for this 
expression of its good will. 

This country as a nation has much to congratulate 
itself upon. Your president has alluded to one or two 
things. "We were never in aU our history on such good 
terms with each other, North and South, East and 
West, as we are at this hour. [Applause.] 

The union of hearts and the union of hands were never 
stronger than in this year 1899. [Renewed applause.] 

More than all, we are to-day on more cordial relations 
with aU the world than we have been for many years. 
The treaty of peace has been ratified and we are no 
longer at war. Whatever the difi'erence of opinion in 
Massachusetts, to which reference has been made, I 
have discovered that when there is a crisis, national 
or otherwise, Massachusetts stands for national credit 
and national honor. [Prolonged applause.] I am 
pleased to meet the men about this board— men of 
letters, men of the law, as well as the men of business. 

I have been glad to meet the representative of Har- 



198 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

vard College here. I like old Harvard. [Applause.] I 
like tke Harvard men. I still have cause to be grateful 
to them. They gave to the nation an Otis at Manila 
[applause], and Lawton, who led our forces at El Caney 
[renewed applause], and Roosevelt [cheers], and last, but 
not least, Leonard Wood. [Prolonged applause.] Nor 
can I ever forget that Harvard furnished to me and to 
the country the Secretary of the Navy, John D. Long. 
[Cheers and tumultuous applause.] 

I learned my lessons in liberty from the people of 
Massachusetts. [Enthusiastic applause.] 

But, fellow-citizens, as I started out to say to you, 
I am glad to meet the members of the Commercial 
Club and the business men of Boston here assembled. 
I rejoice with them upon the better conditions of trade 
now prevailing throughout the country. The last twelve 
months have marked great changes and brought busi- 
ness improvement to industrial America. The man of 
affairs feels better because his affairs are in a better 
state. He is more comfortable than he has been for 
many years. He has taken on new courage and confi- 
dence. He is satisfied with the revenue and financial 
policies of his country. He can now make accurate 
calculation on the future. 

The past year has recorded a volume of business, 
domestic and foreign, unparalleled in any former opera- 
tions of the United States. Our enormous export trade 
has made American balances satisfactory, and almost 
for the first time the money of the country has been so 
abundant, and the wealth of the country so great, that 
our capitalists have sought foreign investments. We 
are fast going from a debtor to a creditor nation. I 
hope nothing will check it. We have quit discussing 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 199 

the tariff, and have turned our attention to getting 
trade wherever it can be found. It will be a long time 
before any change can be had or any change will be 
desired in our present fiscal policy, except to strengthen 
it. The differences on this question which existed have 
disappeared, for the time at least. We have turned 
from academic theories to trade conditions, and are 
seeking our share of the world's markets. 

Not only is our business good, but our money is good. 
There is no longer any fear of debased currency; it 
has been happily dispelled. The highest and best stan- 
dard recognized by the leading commercial nations has 
been maintained, and it has been done so far without 
a resort to loans. The cause of sound money has ad- 
vanced in the last two years. Honest finance has made 
positive gains. I do not think we quite appreciate yet 
the full measure of its success. 

Both branches of Congress on the 4th of March next 
will have an unquestioned majority opposed to any 
demoralization of our currency, and committed to up- 
hold the world's standard. Certainly for two years every 
branch of the national government will be united for good 
currency and the inviolability of our national obhga- 
tions and credit. The investments and enterprises of the 
people can therefore not be unsettled by sudden changes. 

We have been engaged in war. Two hundred and 
seventy thousand of our citizens have been in the field ; 
our sailors have been afloat in two hemispheres ; and 
yet the business of the country has been steadily grow- 
ing, our resources multiplying, the energj^ of our people 
has been quickened, and, at the end of our glorious land 
and naval triumphs, we find the country in a condition 
of almost unparalleled activity and prosperity. 



200 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

Our domestic situation is fortunate indeed, consider- 
ing the new questions wliich we must meet and solve. 
That they will be settled on the lines of right and duty 
I cannot doubt, and that the business men of Boston 
and of the whole country will be an active and helpful 
force in their rightful solution I confidently believe. 
[Great applause.] 

CXI. 

Remarks at the Dinner at the Union League, 
Philadelphia, April 27, 1899. 

Mr. Converse, Gentlemen of the Union League : 

I rise simply that I may thank the Union League for 
its welcome and the many manifestations of good will 
which it has shown to me. I am specially glad to be 
here to-day to join with the people of Philadelphia in 
honoring the great warrior who saved the American 
Union. [Applause.] If we will always be loyal to his 
memory we shall always be faithful to the Union. [Ap- 
plause.] 

The Baldwin Locomotive Works does not always fol- 
low the flag, but often precedes it [laughter], and I am 
told that its products are everywhere. [Laughter.] In- 
deed, the city of Philadelphia is getting everywhere. 
[Laughter.] It is doing as the army and navy have 
been doing in the last twelve months. [x\pplause.] I 
am told you are about to span the Nile with a bridge 
built in the city of Philadelphia. [Applause.] 

I thank you for your warm greeting, and I propose 
the toast " Our Splendid Army and Navy." [Loud 
applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 201 



CXII. 



Speech at the Academy op Music, Philadelphia, 
Aprh. 27, 1899. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

I cannot add a single word to the just and beautiful 
tribute paid to the great warrior by your fellow-citizen 
in this presence to-night. 

Half a dozen years ago I was in Galena, delivering 
an address at the unveiling of a statue to General 
Grant, and this story was told to me : That General 
Grant, then a captain and out of the service, presided 
over their first Union meeting in 1861 — the first meet- 
ing after the call for volunteers. The meeting was a 
large one, held in the old court-house, and inquiries 
were made all over the room who it was that was thus 
called to preside over that important patriotic assem- 
bly. Some one said, ''It is Captain Grant." "Well, 
who is Captain Grant? We never heard of him." In 
four years from that time he presided over the greatest 
Union meeting ever held beneath the flag, at Appomat- 
tox Court-House, and his name was upon every lip [ap- 
plause], and his face was familiar to every American 
home. Subsequently he was greeted by all races, and 
filled the whole world with his fame as he journeyed in 
the pathway of the sun. [Applause.] He was a great 
soldier. Lincoln issued the proclamation of emancipa- 
tion ; but it took the guns of Grant to give life to that 
decree. He will be remembered for all time and his 
name forever cherished as the soldier who preserved 



202 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

the Union of the States. He had a sacred attachment 
for the old soldiers. The last time that the public ever 
looked upon his face in life was on the occasion of the 
parade of the Grand Army of the Republic in the city 
of New York only a little while before General Grant's 
death ; and against the protests of his friends and of his 
physicians he was carried to the window of his house 
for a last look upon his comrades. [Applause.] It was 
a scene never to be forgotten, and attested his undying 
love for those who had followed him from Shiloh to 
Vicksburg and Appomattox. 

He not only achieved great victories in war and great 
administrative triumphs in peace, but he was permitted 
to do what is given to few men to do— to live long 
enough to write with his own pen the history he had 
made in command of the armies of the United States. 
[Applause.] And what a splendid history it is ! It should 
be read by all the boys and girls of the land, for it teUs, 
in his just and simple and honest but most forceful 
way, the trials and triumphs and hopes of the army over 
which he was supreme commander. And when he had 
finished that work he laid down his pen, and, like a good 
soldier, said to his Master, ''Thy wiU be done." He 
is gone who was so great. He brought the flag of our 
country back without a single star erased ; and it is a 
glorious fact to know that the Union which he saved 
by his sword, and the peace for which he prayed in 
his last moments, are secured. [Loud applause.] It is 
gratifying to us to know, as lovers of the great war- 
rior, that the men against whom he fought in that 
great civil struggle, and their descendants, carried, with 
the men of the North and their descendants, the glo- 
rious banner of the free at Santiago, El Caney, and Ma- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 203 

nila [cheers and applause] ; and that we have a Union 
to-day stronger and grander than ever before, for it is 
a Union of hearts, North and South, a Union indissolu- 
ble, and a Union never to be broken. [Applause.] The 
flag which Grant and his mighty army made glorious 
has lost none of its luster as it has been carried by the 
army and navy of the United States on sea and land in 
two hemispheres. [Great cheering.] So long as we per- 
petuate in our hearts the memory of Grant, so long will 
this nation be secure and enduring. [Great applause.] 



CXIII. 

Remarks on Board the U. S. S. " Raleigh," 
Philadelphia, April 28, 1899. 

Captain Coglilan, Men of tJie " Raleigh " : 

It gives me great pleasure to bid you welcome home 
and to congratulate you, and each one of you, upon the 
heroic part you bore in the great battle on the 1st of 
May at Manila, which was a most glorious triumph to 
American arms, and made a new and glorious page in 
American history. I assure you that when I give you 
welcome I am only speaking the heart's welcome of 
seventy-five millions of American citizens, who honor 
you all for your splendid services to our country. This 
feeling not only extends to your great admiral, whom 
we all love and honor, but to the humblest member of 
the crew who was in that great fleet at Manila Bay. 

I give you all warm and generous welcome and my 
thanks. 



204 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 



CXIV. 

Speech at Harrisonburg, Virginia, May 20, 1899. 

Fellow-Citizens : 

The very warm and generous welcome which has been 
extended on your behalf by Colonel Roller is altogether 
an unexpected pleasure, and all the more appreciated, 
for in passing so rapidly through your valley I had 
no thought that I would be thus greeted by the people 
of Rockingham County. I am glad, my fellow-citizens, 
to look upon your beautiful valley once more— one of 
the richest and most attractive in our great country. 
It is a rich heritage you possess and enjoy. 

I heartily join with your speaker in congratulations 
upon a reunited country. [Applause.] We are now 
happily one in purpose and one in patriotism. [Pro- 
longed applause.] 

I congratulate you upon the evidences of prosperity 
that I see at every hand. It is a common prosperity, 
participated in by both the North and the South. [Ap- 
plause.] 

It now rests upon us and those who follow us to see 
to it that this Union of States established by the fathers, 
representing liberty and justice, representing the highest 
opportunities and blessings, " shall not perish from the 
earth." [Cheers.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 205 



cxv. 

Speech on the Occasion op the Conferring of 
THE Degree of Doctor of Civil Law at Mount 
Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts, 
June 20, 1899. 

Mrs. Mead, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

In this presence I cannot refrain from making 
acknowledgment of the very distinguished honor which 
the Board of Trustees and the officers of this institution 
have been pleased to confer upon me. I want to assure 
the young ladies of the graduating class that I am both 
dehsrhted and honored to be a member of the class of 
'99. [Applause.] 

Massachusetts has been and is favored in many 
things, but in nothing more than in her educational 
institutions. I count myself most fortunate to have 
been privileged yesterday to look upon the faces of the 
graduates of Smith College, that splendid institution 
for the education of women. And I count myself 
most fortunate to-day to look upon the faces of the 
graduates of this historic institution that has done so 
much for the exaltation of womanhood, and whose influ- 
ence is felt, not alone in Massachusetts, but in every 
part of our common country— Mount Holyoke, more 
than sixty years old to-day ! And its influence in 
molding and shaping the citizenship of the nation 
can never be told. I am glad that we are demonstrating 
in the United States to-day that the boy should have 
no more advantage than the girl [applause] ; and Mount 



206 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

Holyoke and Smith, and a lialf-dozen other institutions 
of the land, are demonstrating that fact. Educated 
womanhood is an open school for citizenship every day 
of the year, and the home is the training-school for 
the author and the soldier and the statesman. 

I wish for this graduating class every good thing, and 
I want you to be assured that all good things wait upon 
a pure and noble womanhood. [Applause.] 



CXVI. 

Speech at Springfield, Massachusetts, 
June 21, 1899. 

3Iy FeUoiv-Citizens : 

I desire to express the very great pleasure I have had 
in the generous welcome extended to me by the people 
of the city of Springfield. 

This would be a good time for Springfield to take a 
census. [Applause and laughter.] I am prepared for 
any ascertained population your enumerators may find 
this year. [Applause.] I have been glad during the 
day to witness the devotion of your people, old and 
young, to the flag that all of us love [applause and 
cheers] ; to meet the veterans of '61 and '65, who carried 
that flag to honor and glory [applause and cheers] ; 
and to meet the members of the gallant Second 
Massachusetts, who carried that flag and brought it 
back with added glory from the fields of Santiago. 
[Applause.] I was glad to see the colors of the old 
banner in the hands of the ten thousand school-children 
of the city of Springfield. [Applause and cheers.] It 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 207 

represents to-day more than it ever did before. It 
does not stand for despotism— it stands for peace and 
progress and liljerty and law and kindly government 
wherever its sacred folds float. [Cheers.] 

I thank you for this reception, and, being unable to 
shake hands with all of you, I reluctantly bid you good- 
by. [Prolonged cheering.] 



CXVII. 

Speech at the Reception of the Grand Ar^iy 
Post, Adasis, Massachusetts, June 24, 1899. 

Comrades of the Grand Army : 

While we are all getting older and grayer, I discover 
that your voices are quite as strong as they were in '61 
and '65. [Cheers.] You cheer now very much as you 
cheered then. I cannot forbear congratulating you upon 
this beautiful room in which you hold your post meet- 
ings. I think there are very few post-rooms in the 
country more accessible or more comfortable than the 
one which you are privileged to occupy. I am glad to 
recall the fact that two years ago I assisted my comrades 
here in laying the corner-stone of this Memorial Library 
building. I congratulate you upon the completion of 
the structure. [Loud cheering and applause.] 



208 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 



CXVIII. 

Speech at Adajis, Massachusetts, June 26, 1899. 

My FeUoiv-Citkens : 

I am always glad to come to Adams, and always regret 
going away. While I leave you regretfully, I go with 
the hope of an early visit among you again. [Cheers.J 

It has been a great pleasure to me to note the prog- 
ress you have made since I first visited you seven 
years ago. I was here then to participate in the open- 
ing of one of your great mills. I rejoice to know that 
another one of like size was added a few years later, 
and it gave me uncommon gratification this morning to 
take part in the laying of the corner-stone of still 
another, which is to be larger than any that have pre- 
ceded it. [Applause and cheers.] This means work 
and wages; and work and wages mean happy homes 
and happy firesides ; and happy homes and happy fii-e- 
sides make a good community, good citizens, and a 
great country. [Prolonged cheering.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 209 



CXIX. 

Speech at the Catholic Summer School, Cliff 
Haven, New York, August 15, 1899. 

Father Lavelle, Members of the Catholic Summer School, 
Ladies and Gentlemen : 

I had not intended to say a word, but I cannot sit in 
silence in the presence of this demonstration of your 
good will and patriotism. I cannot forbear to give ex- 
pression of my very high appreciation of the welcome 
you have given me here to-day, and the kindly words 
of commendation uttered by your president. 

Whatever the government of the United States has 
been able to accomplish since I last met you in this 
audience-chamber has been accomplished because the 
hearts of the people have been with it. [Applause.] 
Our patriotism is neither sectional nor sectarian. [Ap- 
plause.] "We may differ in our political and religi- 
ous beliefs, but we are united for country. [Applause.] 
Loyalty to the government is our national creed. We 
follow, all of us, one flag. [Applause.] It symbo- 
lizes our purposes and our aspirations; it represents 
what we believe and what we mean to maintain ; and 
wherever it floats, it is the flag of the free [prolonged 
applause], the hope of the oppressed; and wherever 
it is assailed, at any sacrifice, it will be carried to a 
triumphant peace. [Tremendous applause, long con- 
tinued.] We have more flags here than we ever had 
before. [Applause.] They are in evidence everywhere. 
I saw them carried by the little ones on your lawn. 

14 



210 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

[Applause.] That flag floats from the homes of the 
milhons ; even from our places of worship, from our 
school-houses, from the shops and the factories, from 
the mining towns; and it waves from the camp of the 
pioneer on the distant outpost, and on the lumberman's 
hut in the dense forest. It is found in the home of the 
humblest toiler, and what it represents is dear to his 
heart. Rebellion may delay, but it can never defeat 
its blessed mission of liberty and humanity. [Long-con- 
tinued applause and cheers.] 



cxx. 

Speech at Ocean Grove, New Jersey, 
August 25, 1899. 

BisJiop Fitzgerald, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

"Words seem very poor to express my appreciation 
of your kindly welcome. I have come to pay my 
respects to the Ocean Grove Association, and to thank 
it for the magnificent work it has done in the past, 
and for the still greater work which it will accomplish 
in the future. Piety and patriotism go well together. 
[Applause.] Love of flag, love of country, are not in- 
consistent with our religious faith; and I think we 
have more love for our country and more people love 
our flag than ever before. [Great applause.] And what 
that flag has done for us we want it to do for all peo- 
ples and all lands which, by the fortunes of war, may 
come within its jurisdiction. [Prolonged applause.] 
Tliat flag does not mean one thing in the United 
States and another thing in Porto Rico and the Philip- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 211 

pines. [Applause.] There has been doubt expressed 
in some quarters as to the purpose of the government 
respecting the Philippines. I can see no harm in 
stating it in this presence. [Applause.] Peace first 
[loud applause] ; then, with charity for all, the estab- 
lishment of a government of law and order [applause], 
protecting life and property and occupation for the 
well-being of the people, in which they will participate 
under the Stars and Stripes. [Prolonged applause.] 

I have said more than I intended to, and I only want 
to express, in conclusion, the j)leasure it has given me 
to look into the faces of this great assembly of Metho- 
dists [applause], and to receive your cordial greetings. 
[Great applause.] 

CXXI. 

Address before the Tenth Pennsylvania Regiment, 
United States Volunteers, Schenley Park, Pitts- 
BLTiG, August 28, 1899. 

Governor Stone and my Fellow-CUizens : 

I am glad to participate with the families, friends, 
and fellow-citizens of the Tenth Pennsylvania Volun- 
teers in this glad reunion. 

You have earned the plaudits, not alone of the people 
of Pennsylvania, but of the whole nation. Your return 
has been the signal for a great demonstration of popu- 
lar regard from your landing at the Golden Gate on the 
Pacific to your home-coming; and here you find a 
warmth of welcome and a greeting from joyous hearts 
which tell better than words the estimate of your 
countrymen, and their high appreciation of the services 



212 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

you have rendered the country. You made secure and 
permanent the victory of Dewey. [Great applause.] You 
added new glory to American arms. You and your 
brave comrades engaged on other fields of conflict have 
enlarged the map of the United States and extended 
the jurisdiction of American liberty. [Continued great 
applause.] 

But while we share in the joy that is yours, there 
remain with us softened and hallowed memories of 
those who went forth with you, not found in your 
ranks to-day. Your noble colonel, devoted to his men, 
beloved by his command, and respected by his superior 
officers, gave his life to his country, with many others 
of his comrades. The nation sorrows with the bereaved. 
These heroes died for their country, and there is no 
nobler death. 

Our troops represented the courage and conscience, 
the purpose and patriotism, of their country. "Whether 
in Cuba, Porto Rico, or the Philippines, or at home 
awaiting orders, they did their full duty, and all sought 
the post of greatest peril. They never faltered. The 
Eighth Army-Corps in the Philippines has made a 
proud and exceptional record. Privileged to be mustered 
out in April, when the ratifications of the treaty of 
peace were exchanged, they did not claim the privilege— 
they declined it. They voluntarily remained in the ser- 
vice, and declared their purpose to stay until their 
places could be filled by new levies, and longer if the 
government needed them. Their service — and they 
understood it— was not to be in camp or garrison, free 
from danger, but on the battle-line, where exposure 
and death confronted them, and where both have 
exacted their victims. 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 213 

They did not stack arms. They did not run away. 
They were not serving the insurgents in the Philip- 
pines or their sympathizers at home. [Prolonged ap- 
plause.] They had no part or patience with the men, 
few in number, happily, who would have rejoiced to see 
them lay down their arms in the presence of an enemy 
whom they had just emancipated from Spanish rule, 
and who should have been our firmest friend. 

They furnished an example of devotion and sacrifice 
which will brighten the glorious record of American 
valor. They have secured not alone the gratitude of 
the government and the people, but for themselves and 
their descendants an imperishable distinction. They 
may not fully appreciate, and the country may not, the 
heroism of their conduct and its important support to 
the government. I think I do, and so I am here to 
express it. [Applause.] 

The mighty army of volunteers and regulars, number- 
ing over two hundred and fifty thousand, which last 
year responded to the call of the government with an 
alacrity without precedent or parallel, by the terms of 
their enlistment were to be mustered out, with all of the 
regulars above twenty-seven thousand, when peace with 
Spain was effected. Peace brought us the Philippines, 
by treaty cession from Spain. The Senate of the United 
States ratified the treaty. Every step taken was in 
obedience to the requirements of the Constitution. 
There was no flaw in the title, and no doubtful methods 
were employed to obtain it. [Great applause.] It be- 
came our territory, and is ours as much as the Louisiana 
Purchase, or Texas, or Alaska. A body of insurgents, 
in no sense representing the sentiment of the people of 
the islands, disputed our lawful authority, and even be- 



214 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

fore tlie ratification of the treaty by tlie American 
Senate were attacking the very forces who fought for 
and secured their freedom 

This was the situation in April, 1899, the date of the 
exchange of ratifications— only twenty-seven thousand 
regulars subject to the unquestioned direction of the 
Executive, and they for the most part on duty in Cuba 
and Porto Rico, or invaUded at home after their severe 
campaign in the tropics. Even had they been available, 
it would have required months to transport them to the 
Philippines. Practically a new army had to be created. 
These loyal volunteers in the Philij)pines said: ''We 
will stay until the government can organize an army at 
home and transport it to the seat of hostilities." 

They did stay, cheerfully, uncomplainingly, patriot- 
ically. They suffered and sacrificed, they fought and 
fell, they drove back and punished the rebels who re- 
sisted federal authority, and who with force attacked the 
sovereignty of the United States in its newly acquired 
territory. Without them then and there we would have 
been practically helpless on land, our flag would have 
had its first stain, and the American name its first 
ignominy. The brilliant victories of the army and navy 
in the bay and city of Manila would have been won in 
vain, our obligations to civilization would have remained 
temporarily unperformed, chaos would have reigned, 
and whatever government there was would have been 
by the will of one man, and not with the consent of the 
governed. Who refused to sound the retreat? Who 
stood in the breach when others weakened? Who re- 
sisted the suggestion of the unpatriotic that they should 
come home ? 

Let me call the roll of honor— let me name the regi- 



OF WILLIAM McKIXLEY. 215 

ments and battalions that deserve to be perpetuated in 
the nation's annals. Their action was not a sudden 
impulse born of excitement, but a deliberate determina- 
tion to sustain, at the cost of life, if need be, the honor 
of their government and the authority of its flag. 

First California, California Artillery, First Colorado, 
First Idaho, Fifty-first Iowa, Twentieth Kansas, Thir- 
teenth Minnesota, First Montana, First Nebraska, First 
North Dakota, Nevada Cavalry, Second Oregon, Tenth 
Pennsylvania, First South Dakota, First Tennessee, 
Utah Artillery, First Washington, First Wyoming, 
Wyoming Battery, First, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth 
Companies Volunteer Signal Corps. [Enthusiastic ap- 
plause.] 

To these must be added about four thousand enlisted 
men of the regular army, who were entitled to their dis- 
charge under the peace proclamation of April 11, 1899, 
the greater portion of whom participated in the engage- 
ments of the Eighth Corps, and are still performing 
arduous services in the field. [Continued applause.] 

Nor must the navy be forgotten. Sixty-five devoted 
sailors participated in the engagement of May 1 in Manila 
Bay whose terms of service had previously expired, con- 
tinuing on duty quite a year after that action. [Con- 
tinued applause.] 

For these men of the army and navy we have only 
honor and gratitude. 

The world will never know the restraint of our sol- 
diers—their self-control under the most exasperating 
conditions. For weeks subjected to the insults and 
duplicity of the insurgent leaders, they preserved the 
status quo, remembering that they were under an order 
from their government sacredly to observe the terms of 



216 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

the protocol in letter and spirit, and avoid all conflict, 
except in defense, pending the negotiations of the treaty 
of peace. They were not the aggressors. They did not 
begin hostilities against the insurgents pending the 
ratification of the treaty of peace in the Senate, great 
as was their justification, because their orders from 
Washington forbade it. I take all the responsibility for 
that direction. Otis only executed the orders of his 
government, and the soldiers, under great provocation 
to strike back, obeyed. [Great applause.] 

Until the treaty was ratified we had no authority 
beyond Manila city, bay, and harbor. We then had no 
other title to defend, no authority beyond that to main- 
tain. Spain was still in possession of the remainder of 
the archipelago. Spain had sued for peace. The truce 
and treaty were not concluded. The first blow was 
struck by the insurgents, and it was a foul blow. Our 
kindness was reciprocated with cruelty, our mercy with 
a Mauser. The flag of truce was invoked only to be 
dishonored. Our soldiers were shot down while minis- 
tering to the wounded Filipinos, our dead were muti- 
lated; our humanity was interpreted as weakness, our 
forbearance as cowardice. 

They assailed our sovereignty ; and there will be no 
useless parley, no pause, until the insurrection is sup- 
pressed, and American authority acknowledged and 
established. [Enthusiastic and long-continued applause.] 
The misguided followers in rebellion have only oiu* 
charity and pity. As to the ciuel leaders who have 
needlessly sacrificed the lives of thousands of their 
people, at the cost of some of our best blood, for the 
gratification of their own ambitious designs, I will leave 
to others the ungracious task of justification and eulogy. 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 217 

Every one of the noble men, of the regulars or volun- 
teers, soldiers or seamen, who thus signally served their 
country in its extremity, deserves the special recogni- 
tion of Congress, and it will be to me an unfeigned plea- 
sure to recommend for each of them a special medal of 
honor. [Great applause.] 

Men of the Tenth Pennsylvania, while we give you 
hail and greeting from overflowing hearts, we do not 
forget, nor wiU you, the brave men who remain and 
those who have gone forward to take your places, and 
those other brave men who have so promptly volun- 
teered, crowding each other to get to the front, to carry 
forward to successful completion the work you so nobly 
began and so faithfully prosecuted. Our prayers go 
with them, and more men and munitions, if required 
[great applause], for the speedy suppression of the re- 
bellion, the establishment of peace and tranquillity, and 
a government under the undisputed sovereignty of the 
United States [continued applause] — a government 
which will do justice to all, and at once encourage the 
best efforts and aspirations of these distant people and 
the highest development of their rich and fertile lands. 

The government to which you gave your love and 
loyalty welcomes you to your homes. With no blot or 
stain upon your record, the story of your unselfish ser- 
vice to country and to civilization will be, to the men 
who take your places at the front and on the firing- 
line, and to future generations, an esamj^le of patriotism 
and an inspii*ation to duty. [Great and prolonged ap- 
plause.] 



218 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 



CXXII. 

Speech at East Liverpool, Ohio, August 28, 1899. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

I am delighted with the greeting extended by the 
citizens of East Liverpool this evening, and assure 
you that it is a great pleasure to be here again among 
so many of my good friends. 

East Liverpool has made great strides in recent years. 
I think Colonel Taylor is a little conservative, but he 
puts the population now at twenty thousand. I con- 
gratulate you upon your marvelous growth and your 
unquestioned prosperity. I remember a few years ago 
to have told you that you were growing so much that 
you were pushing back the hills about you. You are now 
covering these same hills with your residences, and you 
are expanding so greatly that Ohio is no longer big 
enough for you, and you are going over to West Vir- 
ginia. [Applause.] A fine bridge now spans the river, 
and I am told you are building happy homes on the 
other side. 

I congratulate you, my fellow-citizens, upon the 
condition of the country. I congratulate you not 
only upon its prosperity, but also upon its patriot- 
ism. "We never had so much patriotism in the 
United States as we have to-day. We never had so 
many people loving our country and its flag as we 
have to-day, and that flag is dearer to us than it ever 
was before. [Great applause.] I do not forget, when, 
during the last year, we went to war with Spain, the 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 219 

generous response of the country, two himclred thou- 
sand of our best young men volunteering their services 
to fight, and die if need be, for the honor of our flag 
[applause] and its integrity everywhere. Nor can I 
forget that this city of East Liverpool contributed one 
of the companies to the gallant Eighth Ohio, that did 
service in front of Santiago. [Applause.] 

Having said this, and grateful to you for this re- 
ception,— for I assure you that coming to East Liver- 
pool awakens tender and sweet and pleasant memories, 
and looking into your faces touches my very heart- 
strings,— having said this much, and wishing for you 
at all times all good things, I bid you good night. 
[Long-continued applause.] 



CXXIIL 

Speech at East Liverpool, Ohio, August 29, 1899. 

My Fellou'-Cifiiens : 

In this presence I feel quite incapable of making a 
fitting response to the gracious expressions extended on 
your behalf by your representative in Congress [Repre- 
sentative Taylerj. If an3i}hing would make me forget my 
fatigue, it would be this friendly greeting, which I know 
is straight from the heart. I cannot stand here even for 
a moment to give utterance to words of appreciation of 
this kindly reception, without recalling that from this 
very place, year in and year out, I was in the habit of 
meeting this people, and they were kind enough always 
to give me generous welcome. [xVpplause.] This city, 
through all the years of the past, has been faithful and 



220 SPEECHES AXD ADDRESSES 

firm in its friendsliip for me. Altliougli I have been 
absent from you for now more tlian four years, that 
friendship has never been diminished, and my interest 
in you, in your city, in your prosperity, in your home 
life, in the young men and the young women, in the boj's 
and the girls, has never abated. [Applause.] I come back 
here finding your city growing, constant improvements 
being made, until I have come to believe that the people 
of East Liverpool are in favor of expansion, [Laughter 
and great applause.] 

But I came here for rest, and not to speak, and I 
know you will excuse me from any further words, and 
permit me to bid you all good night. [Prolonged ap- 
plause.] 

cxxn^ 

Remarks at Canton, Ohio, August 30, 1899. 

Judge Baldwin and my Felloiv-Citizens : 

I appear only for a moment that I may give expres- 
sion to my appreciation of the welcome which you have 
extended to me to-day. After all, there is no place like 
home. And this is my home. Here thirty-two or thirty- 
three years ago I commenced my professional life. Here 
have been formed some of the most tender and sacred 
associations. Some of them, indeed, have been severed, 
but this is the seat and the center of my memory. 

Heretofore, for nearly a third of a century, you have 
given me kindly greeting, words of encouragement, and 
showered upon me honor after honor, all undeserved, 
and I appear before you now only to express what is in 
my heart : that I am glad to see you ; glad to meet you^ 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 221 

to look into your faces once again, and feel the inspira- 
tion of yom' approval. [Loud and prolonged applause.] 



cxxv. 

Speech at Can'tox, Ohio, August 30, 1899. 

Captain Fisher, Officers and Members of the Eighth Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry, and my Fellow-Citizens : 

It gives me great pleasure to meet you once more in 
this dear old town. I have appreciated during the day 
the "warmth of welcome and the heartiness of greeting 
■which have been accorded to me by my old neighbors and 
friends. 

I do not forget, as I stand in this presence, sur- 
rounded by these brave boys, that this old county of 
Stark was prompt in responding to the call of the govern- 
ment for soldiers in this war with Spain. I do not for- 
get the alacrity with which they volunteered, and I have 
always been proud of the fact, for I noted it with great 
satisfaction, that this county furnished quite as many 
soldiers, according to its population, as any other county 
in the United States. [Applause.] 

You have won and earned the nation's gratitude and 
praise. You did your full duty in front of Santiago ; 
and no higher honor can be paid to the soldier of any 
country than to say of him that he did his whole duty. 
[Applause.] 

You were more fortunate than many of your com- 
rades. You got to the seat of hostilities. But every 
one of the two hundred thousand splendid young men 
who volunteered for that war was anxious to get to the 
front and at the place of greatest danger. 



222 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

I am glad to meet my fellow-citizens liere to-night. I 
am thankful to them for the good will which is mani- 
fested by their presence ; and I shall go away from my 
city and my home strengthened for the great duties and 
responsibilities of the Executive office, and sustained 
and encouraged by the kindly expressions of my warm- 
hearted friends here. [Great applause.] 



CXXVI. 

Speech at G. A. R. Encajipiment, Philadelphia, 
September 5, 1899. 

Comrades of the Grand Army of the Bepuhlic : 

It has given me great pleasure to be associated with 
you to-day. I have been deeply touched by many of the 
scenes which all of us witnessed. With the joyous thought 
at the glad reunion of old comrades who had fought 
side by side in a common cause and for a common 
country, there was that other saddened thought that so 
many of our comrades, who, two years ago only, had so 
proudly marched with you through the city of Buffalo, 
were no longer in your ranks. The circle is narrowing 
as the years roll on. One after another at our annual 
reunions is not present, but accounted for. He has 
gone to join the great majority of our comrades. 

But with it all, my comrades, as I witnessed to-day 
the vast procession of old veterans, and heard the 
plaudits of the people, I could not but ask the ques- 
tion: "What has endeared this vast army to the 
American people? what has enshrined you in their 
hearts? what has given you permanent and imperish- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 223 

able place in their liistory?" Aud the answer comes 
that you saved the nation. [Applause.] It was because 
you did something ; aye, you sacrificed something. You 
were willing to give uj) your lives for civilization and 
liberty— not for the civilization and liberty of the hour, 
but for a civilization and liberty for all ages. [Ap- 
plause.] 

That has given you a place in the hearts of the Ameri- 
can people, and I was, therefore, not surprised to hear 
from our comrade, who made the response to the wel- 
come of the State and the city, that, from the time they 
journeyed from their homes in the far West until they 
reached this city, the comrades were everywhere cheered 
by the American people. 

Great deeds never die [applause], and the Grand Army 
of the Republic is to be congratulated to-night that the 
Union which it saved, by the peace which it secured at 
Appomattox Court-house, is the Union formed more 
than a century ago ; and that that Union is stronger, 
better, and dearer to the American people than ever. 
[Tremendous applause.] 

We are once more and forever one people [applause], 
one in faith, one in purpose, one in wilUngness to sacri- 
fice for the honor of the country and the glory of our 
flag. [Applause.] 

The Blue and the Gray march under one flag. [Ap- 
plause.] We have but one flag now, ^'the same our 
grandsires lifted up, the same our fathers bore"— that 
flag which you kept stainless and made triumphant. 
[Immense applause.] 

I may be pardoned for saying in this presence that 
this has been one of the happiest days of my life. 
[Applause.] I sat looking into the faces of my old com- 



224 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

rades. They are getting a little too old for war, I think. 
[Laughter and cries of "No! "J They are all right, 
though [applause] ; and I may say that during last sum- 
mer and this year we were able to gather, through the 
example of your patriotism and the inspiration of your 
example, two hundred and fifty thousand of the best 
young men of the United States. [Great applause.] 



CXXVII. 

Speech at Banquet of Meade, Lafayette, and 
Kinsley Posts, G. A. R., Philadelphia, September 
5, 1899. 

Ify Friends : 

I did not expect to make a speech to-night, and I only 
rise that I may express my gratification at being one 
of the guests of three great Grand Army posts of the 
United States— Meade, Lafayette, and Kinsley. It has 
given me genuine pleasure to greet so many of my old 
comrades in this city of historic memories and patriotic 
endeavors ; but I assure you that all of the goodness 
and greatness of Philadelphia are not in the past. 

As I passed through the Avenue of Fame to-day I 
could not but reflect what a volume of history it portrays. 
Histories of the war, the achievements of the army as 
well as of the navy, were all made manifest by the 
names of those who had been leaders in that great 
struggle in both branches of the service. Our great 
commander was there, Ulysses S. Grant [applause], 
and Sherman and Sheridan and Meade [applause] 
and Farragut. [Applause.] And not only, in that 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 225 

gallery of heroes, did I find great captains and soldiers 
of the army, but you went further and remembered the 
men behind the guns. [Applause.] 

We have told the story of the heroism and sacrifices 
and the matchless achievements of the Grand Army of 
the Republic, of which we are all proud. I thank you, 
members of the three posts, for permitting me to stay 
at your table to-night, but I do not wish to talk. The 
Secretary of War is here ; the Secretary of Agriculture 
is here ; the president of Cornell University, who is 
president of the Philippine Commission, is here from 
Manila; and here, also, is Admiral Sampson. [Ap- 
plause.] And, gentlemen of the three great posts, you 
have your choice. [Great applause.] 



CXXVIII. 

Remarks upon the Occasion of the Presentation of 
A Sword to Adjoral Dewey, at the Capitol, 
Washington, October 3, 1899. 

Admiral Deivey : 

From your entrance into the harbor of New York with 
your gallant crew and valiant ship, the demonstrations 
which everywhere have greeted you reveal the public 
esteem of your heroic action and the fullness of the love 
in which you are held by your countrymen. 

The voice of the nation is lifted in praise and grati- 
tude for the distinguished and memorable services you 
have rendered the country, and aU the people give you 
affectionate welcome home, in which I join with all my 
heart. Your victory exalted American valor and ex- 

15 



226 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

tended American authority. There was no flaw in your 
victory ; there will be no faltering in maintaining it. 
[Tremendous applause.] It gives me extreme pleasure 
and great honor, in behalf of all the people, to hand you 
this sword, the gift of the nation, voted by the Congress 
of the United States. [Prolonged applause.] 



CXXIX. 

Speech at Quincy, Illinois, October 6, 1899. 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

For this patriotic welcome I thank you. It has 
given me uncommon pleasure to meet this morning, at 
the Soldiers' Home, the men of 1861, the veterans who 
stood in the trenches and behind the guns in tliat 
year of great emergency, when the life of the nation 
hung in the balance. [Applause.] 

It has given me like pleasure, also, to meet with the 
ex-soldiers of the Spanish War from the city of Quincy, 
and the naval militia, representing the patriotism of 
1898. [Applause.] And it is gratifying to me to learn 
that you sent from this city one of the gallant young 
officers who fought with Dewey in Manila Bay. [Great 
applause.] 

This is an era of patriotism, my countrymen. The 
United States has never been lacking in gratitude 
to its soldiers and sailors who have fought in its 
cause; and the cause of the United States has never 
lacked defenders in every crisis of its history. [Cheers.] 
From the revolutionary days to the present hour, 
the citizens of the United States have been ever 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 227 

ready to uphold, at any cost, the flag and the honor of 
the nation, and to take all the responsibility which 
comes from a righteous war. [Great applause.] There 
are responsibilities, born of duty, that can never be re- 
pudiated. [Applause.] Duty unperformed is dishonor, 
and dishonor brings shame, which is heavier for a nation 
to carry than any burden which honor can impose. 
[Great and prolonged applause.] 



cxxx. 

Rejnl^rks at Macomb, Illinois, October 6, 1899. 

Ladies and Gentlemen : 

It is a pleasure to me to look into your faces, to feel 
the inspiration of your warm hearts, and to know 
that you are interested in the prosperity and the honor 
of the government of the United States. These great 
assemblages of the people teach patriotism, and patriot- 
ism is the mighty power that sustains the government 
in peace and unites us all in war. [Great applause.] The 
patriot loves his home, his family, his profession, his 
farm, his books; but he has a greater love which in- 
cludes all these— he loves his country. [Great applause.] 
No finer exhibition of patriotism was ever shown than 
a few days ago in the distant Philippines. [Applause.] 
That gallant Tennessee regiment that had been absent 
from home and family and friends for more than a year, 
and was embarked on the good ship Sherman, homeward 
bound— when the enemy attacked our forces remaining 
near Cebu, these magnificent soldiers disembarked from 
their ship and joined their comrades on the firing-line, 



228 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

and achieved a glorious triumpli for American arms. 
[Great applause.] That is an example of patriotism that 
should be an inspiration to duty to all of us in every 
part of our common country. [Prolonged applause.] 



CXXXI. 

Remarks at Bushnell, Illinois, October 6, 1899. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

I thank you for this welcome. I thank the children 
of the schools for coming to give me greeting with the 
flag of our country in their hands. 

The last two years have registered not alone our 
martial triumphs, but have recorded equal triumphs in 
peace. We have not only overcome in the war with 
Spain, but we have overcome the enemies of prosperity 
and scattered their forces [great applause] 5 and to-day 
the United States is enjoying an era of prosperity un- 
precedented in our history. [Applause.] No man 
rejoices more in that fact than I do, because it has 
taken blessings to the homes and the firesides of seventy- 
five millions of my countrymen. [Great applause.] 



CXXXII. 

Speech at Canton, Illinois, October 6, 1899. 

Ladies and Gentlemen : 

The name you bear is very close to me. It suggests 
to me the dearest name on earth — that of home; and 



OF WILLIAM McKIXLEY. 229 

the city of Canton, Ohio, salutes her namesake and 
sister, the city of Canton, Illinois. [Great applause.] 
I am glad to meet yon all. The past two years have 
ji been eventful ones in our history. They have been 

memorable because they have achieved victories for 
civilization and humanity. [Applause.] 

We have had three signal triumphs in that period. 
First, we have had a war with a foreign power in the 
interest and for the benefit of humanity. We have 
triumphed in that war, and our glorious flag, the symbol 
of liberty, floats to-day over two hemispheres. [Loud 
and prolonged applause.] During that war we had 
exhibitions of unprecedented patriotism on the part of 
the people, and unmatched heroism on the part of the 
soldiers and the sailors of the republic. [Cheers.] 

Oui' second great triumph is the triumph of pros- 
perity. [Great applause.] The busy mills, the active 
industries, and the general prosperity have '' scattered 
plenty o'er a smiling land." 

And the third great triumph is the triumph we have 
had over sectionalism. [Great applause.] We are no 
longer a divided people; and he who would stir up 
animosities between the North and the South is denied 
a hearing in both sections. [Great applause.] The boys 
of the South with the boys of the North fought trium- 
phantly on land and sea in every engagement of the war. 

So I conclude, in the moment I am to tarry with you, 
by saying that this nation has been greatly blessed, and 
that this hour we are a united, a prosperous, and a 
]3atriotic people. [Great applause.] And may that divine 
Providence who has guided us in all our undertakings 
from the beginnmg of the government continue to us his 
gracious and assuring favor. [Prolonged applause.] 



230 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



CXXXIII. 

Speech at Peoria, Illinois, October 6, 1899. 

Mr. President, Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

With my fellow-citizens of Peoria County, tlie mem- 
bers of the Grand Army of the Republic, and the Ladies' 
Memorial Association, I am glad to stand about this 
monument, dedicated to patriotic service and heroic 
devotion in as holy a cause as ever engaged mankind. 
This monument awakens sacred memories; and that is 
its purpose. It was erected by these patriotic women 
that it might for all time perpetuate one of the most 
glorious pages in American history. It teUs the whole 
story of the war— the siege, the march, the bivouac, the 
battle-hne, the sufferings, the sacrifices of the brave 
men who from 'Gl to '65 upheld the flag. [Great ap- 
plause.] It tells every page of the history of that civil 
struggle, and of its triumphant consimimation at Ap- 
pomattox Court-House, when Grant accepted the sur- 
render of Lee, and we were kept a nation, united again 
forever. [Great applause.] 

I like this monument. [Applause,] I like this sym- 
bol that I face to-day— the defense of the flag. [Cheers.] 
That is what we do whenever and wherever that flag is 
assailed. [Enthusiastic, prolonged applause.] And 
with us war always stops when the assailants of our 
flag consent to Grant's terms of unconditional sur- 
render. [Great and continued aj)plause.] 

My fellow-citizens, I do not intend to make a speech 
here to-day. [Cries of '' Go on ! "] I could add nothing 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 231 

of patriotic sentiment to that which has ah-eady been 
uttered. But I desire to express in this presence my 
appreciation, not of the tribute that was paid to the 
President of the United States, but the tribute which 
the people of Peoria city and Peoria County have paid 
to the brave defenders of the American flag in time 
of our greatest peril. [Prolonged applause.] You are 
proud of the monument. You should be proud of the 
demonstration to-day which preceded its unveiling— six 
thousand children from the schools marching by with 
the flag of the stars in their hands. [Applause.] I 
could not but think, as I looked upon that inspiring 
procession, that my country was safe. [Loud and pro- 
longed applause.] God bless the schools of America ! 
[Continued applause.] God bless the patriotic women 
of the United States [continued applause], and the pa- 
triotic band that projected and carried this monument 
to a successful conclusion ! [Continued applause.] And 
I must not close without congratulating you that you 
could find in Peoria— indeed, you have everything in 
Peoria— an artist of such high skill, born in your own 
city, to conceive and execute this noble monument. 
[Applause.] 

I thank you for this splendid demonstration of pa- 
triotism. [Long-continued applause.] 



232 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



CXXXIV. 

Eemarks upon the Presentation of an Album from 
THE People op Peoria, Illinois, October 6, 1899. 

My Friends : 

I have no fitting words to respond to the gracious 
compliment of this hour and to the welcome spoken by 
your representative. 

Our flag, wherever it floats, does not change in char- 
acter. It is the same under a tropical sun as it is in our 
own United States. It represents, wherever its stan- 
dard is raised, liberty and advancement for the people ; 
and in your allusions to the work of the Congress and 
of this administration, I can only say for myself and for 
those associated with me, we have had no aim but a public 
aim, no purpose but a good one ; and upon our action, 
in the language of Lincoln and in the words of his proc- 
lamation, we " invoke the considerate judgment of man- 
kind and the gracious favor of Almighty God." 

I thank you for this gift, coming from the people of 
Peoria as an expression of their feeling and good will. 



cxxxv. 

Address at Galesburg, Illinois, October 7, 1899. 

Mr. Chairman and my Fell oiv- Citizens : 

The time and place make this meeting memorable. 
Forty-one years ago on this spot two mighty leaders, 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 233 

representing opposing ideas, contended for mastery 
before the tribunal of the people. It was a contest 
which history will not fail to record ; and some are yet 
li\dng to tell its interesting and thrilling story. It has 
been recited around the family fireside until to the 
people of Illinois it has become a household tale, inspir- 
ing love of liberty and devotion to free institutions. 
Here, therefore, are sacred memories which will be 
cherished by this community for all time, and are per- 
manently incorporated in the life of the nation. 

Lincoln and Douglas are inseparably connected in the 
public mind. Their association began in conflict and 
ended in cooperation. They were in antagonism for 
more than a generation over the interpretation of the 
Constitution, and were united at last when the Consti- 
tution itself was assailed. They might differ, as they 
did, over the meaning of some of its provisions, but 
when the crisis came they stood together for its inviola- 
bility and for the inseparability of the Union it estab- 
lished. The one asserted the right of slavery under 
certain conditions to enter the Territories; the other 
disputed that right under any conditions; but both 
agreed that the slave power should not divide the 
Union. 

The debate was national and historical. It com- 
manded profound attention. It interested aU sections. 
It was watched with the deepest anxiety by the fol- 
lowers of both. It was read and studied as no other 
public discussion before or since. It presented the best 
of the two conflicting schools of thought. It was epoch- 
making, and marked an epoch in our history. It 
touched the public conscience. It influenced public 
thought and purpose. It made the issue impossible of 



234 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

escape; it could be no longer avoided or evaded. It 
united the friends of liberty as well as those of slavery. 
It hastened the '' irrepressible conflict." It was not the 
beginning of the agitation, but it carried it into the lives 
and homes of the republic, and no issue is ever rightly 
settled until it is settled there. It is no little source of 
satisfaction that, upon the great question presented in 
these debates, while Douglas carried the legislature, 
Lincoln had a majority of the people. 

The torch of liberty was not lighted here, but it 
flamed forth with a broader, brighter, bolder light as it 
was lifted up by the strong arm of Abraham Lincoln. 

Three years— otily three years— intervened, and the 
debate was removed from the arena of peaceful discus- 
sion to that of war and carnage. And then Lincoln 
and Douglas stood no longer divided. Sumter was fired 
on April 12, 1861. On the 15th of that month Lincoln 
issued his call for seventy-five thousand troops. The 
position of Douglas at this critical juncture was that of 
a patriot. Without halting or hesitation he alined 
himself upon the side of the national government, and 
threw the force of his great personality in support of 
the Executive. Upon the occasion of his memorable 
visit to Lincoln immediately after the first call for 
volunteers, he dictated to the representative of the 
Associated Press a despatch in these words : 

April 18, 1861. 

Senator Douglas called on the President and had an interesting 
conversation on the present condition of the country. The sub- 
stance of it was, on the part of Mr. Douglas, that while he was 
unalterably opposed to the administration in all its political 
issues, he was prepared to fully sustain the President in the ex- 
ercise of all his constitutional functions to preserve the Union, 
maintain the government, and defend the federal capital. A firm 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 235 

policy and prompt action were necessary. The capital was in 
danger, and must be defended at all hazards and at any expense of 
men and money. He spoke of the present and future without any 
reference to the past. 

He no longer considered party. His sole concern 
was for his country. He had no sympathy with our 
enemies in the North, who openly or secretly counseled 
the dissolution of the Union. He was for the flag and 
for its cause, and the brave men who carried it had his 
blessing and prayers. His patriotic course was a mighty 
factor in molding Union sentiment and in uniting the 
patriotism of the country, and should serve as an ex- 
ample of good citizenship and an inspiration to duty. 

Though Douglas espoused a cause doomed to de- 
feat, yet his name will be cherished by patriots every- 
where, because when the test came he was found sup- 
porting the government and marshaling his followers 
to uphold the constituted authorities. It is the cause 
which hves, and it is the cause which makes the men 
identified with it immortal in historv. Lincoln was the 
leader of the triumphant cause. Douglas, though op- 
posed to him for a lifetime, supported and strengthened 
his arm. Both will be remembered longest, not for the 
debate, but for their part in the mighty events which 
ensued. They will live because the Union which was 
saved and the liberty which was established will endure 
to perpetuate their names. 

To Lincoln, who in 1858 was struggling here against 
the encroachment of slavery,— not for its destruction 
where it existed, but against its further extension,— was 
finally given by the people, under the providence of 
God, the opportunity and the power to enthrone liberty 
in every part of the republic. 



236 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

CXXXVI. 

Speech at Kewanee, Illiniois, October 1, 1899. 

FeJIoiv-Citizens : 

I thank you for this patriotic demonstration. I ap- 
preciate this expression, not as personal to myself, but 
as your tribute of devotion to the government of the 
United States, over which, by the partiality of your 
suffrage, I am permitted to preside. [Great applause.] 

I am glad to meet the working-men of this busy man- 
ufacturing town, and to meet my fellow-citizens gen- 
erally, and congratulate them upon the improved 
conditions of business over 1896. [Enthusiastic ap- 
plause.] I am glad to know that this year the place 
hunts the man, and not the man the place. [Applause.] 

Somebody has asked, ^'What are the signs of the 
times?" Coming along on the railway I received a 
letter from one of your great works here, and I thought 
it gave the best answer that could be made. Here it is : 

In 1896 from one to three hundred men were turned away from 
our gates every morning and every night, who were looking for 
work. [A voice, "That 's so, too."] Many of these people went 
away with tears in their eyes. We gave work to large numbers of 
people, for a few days at a time, simply to enable them to live. 
During the last two years our bulletin-board has been constantly 
covered with the notice of additional men wanted. [Great ap- 
plause and cries of " True ! "] 

In one of your factories in 1896, in the month of 
September, you paid thirty-three thousand dollars to 
labor ; in the same month of 1899 you paid one hundred 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 237 

and three thousand dollars to labor. [Cheers.] I am 
told that this railroad over which we are traveling 
loaded, in the month of September of this year, seventy- 
eight hundred cars— more than have ever been loaded in 
a single month before in its history— with the products 
of the farm, the mill, and the factories along its line 
[great applause]— eighteen hundred more than were 
loaded in the same period last year. So I feel that I 
can congratulate you upon the prosperity that prevails 
in this community and throughout the country. The 
hum of industry has drowned the voice of calamity 
[applause], and the voice of despair is no longer heard 
in the United States, and the orators without occupation 
here are now looking to the Philippines for comfort. 
[Laughter and long-continued applause.] As we op- 
posed them when they were standing against industrial 
progress at home, we oppose them now as they are 
standing against national duty in our island possessions 
in the Pacific. [Loud and prolonged applause.] 



CXXXVII. 

Speech at La Salle, Illinois, October 7, 1899. 

Ladies and Gentlemen : 

It gives me very great pleasure to meet you here to- 
day. I never journey through the East or the South or 
the West that my pride in my country is not increased, 
my love of it enhanced, and my confidence in its noble 
mission and its permanence firmly reestablished in my 
heart. [Great applause.] We are a nation of seventy- 
fiive millions of people, all of them possessing equal 



238 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

opportunity in the race of life, with public schools and 
other schools open for the education of the boys and 
girls freely and without price, with hope put in the 
heart of the humblest boy in the land, and the right of 
that humblest boy to aspire to the highest place in the 
gift of this free republic, [Great applause.] And if you 
needed any example of the glorious opportunities of 
American citizenship, you have them here in your own 
great State of Illinois. Lincoln, Douglas, Logan, Love- 
joy, Oglesby, and a long list besides, coming from the 
humblest walks of life, at last reached the highest sum- 
mits of fame and favor in the republic. 

And now to us— for this government rests upon the 
people and all the people— is committed this great repub- 
lic. Shall we maintain it in its integrity ? Let your boys 
be educated in patriotism, and if so educated no harm 
can befall the nation. [Long-continued applause.] 

CXXXVIIL 

Speech at Ottawa, Illinois, October 7, 1899. 

My FeUoiv-Citizens : 

I very much appreciate the fact that at this busy 
period so many of you have left your accustomed occu- 
pations and assembled here to give me welcome and 
cheer. I rejoice at your prosperity and at the pros- 
perity which is everywhere observed throughout our 
country, and I wish for you and all the people con- 
tinued blessings under a government which we love and 
believe is the best in the world. [Applause.] 

At the city of Galesburg, which we have just left, we 
celebrated the anniversary of the great debate between 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 239 

Lincoln and Douglas. I am told that the first of the 
series occurred in your city [a voice, '' In 1858 "] in 1858. 
That, my fellow-citizens, was a memorable discitssion of 
great political questions. That was the beginning of 
the new era of our national life. It was a great blow 
that was struck here and elsewhere at human slavery ; 
and from that debate, entering the hearts and homes 
and consciences of the people, finally came the civil 
struggle that gave your great citizen the opportunity 
to emancipate four millions of people. [Long-continued 
applause.] 



CXXXIX. 

Speech at Joliet, Illinois, October 7, 1899. 

2I1/ Fellow-Citizens : 

Some one told me that the crowd would be veiy 
small at Joliet because the workshops were too bus}^ to 
close. What would this great audience have been if 
all the workmen had been able to leave their employ- 
ment? I am told that you are so busy that you run 
two turns a day [a voice, "Some places three! "] and 
some places three. I suppose that is on the principle 
that one good turn deserves another. [Laughter and 
applause.] 

I am glad to know that every one of the fires of aU 
the furnaces and factories and shops in the city of Joliet 
has been lighted, and that employment waits upon labor 
in every department of human industry here. 

This nation is doing a vast business not only at home, 
but abroad. For the first time in our history we 



240 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

send more American manufactured products abroad, 
made by American working-men, than we buy abroad, 
[Applause.] The balance of trade is, therefore, in our 
favor, and it is paid in gold. [Great applause.] In 
1898 we sent six hundred million dollars' worth of 
American products abroad in excess of what we bought 
abroad, and five hundred and thirty million dollars' worth 
in 1899 — all of which was paid to the American people, 
and helped furnish pay to American labor. Ten years 
ago we imported seven hundred and thirty-five million 
pounds of tin-plate from the other side. Last year we 
imported one hundred million pounds, and manufactured 
at home nearly eight hundred million pounds of that 
product. [Applause.] We not only practically supply our 
own market, but we are beginning to export tin-plate. 
In 1894 we sent abroad American locomotives valued at 
one million dollars. In 1899 we sent abroad American 
locomotives valued at four million seven hundred thou- 
sand dollars. Our trade is not only growing at home, 
but it is growing abroad. 

All that I wish for my countrymen is that this pros- 
perity may be continued — continued because it brings 
happiness and contentment and joy to every household 
of the land. 

We not only send our goods abroad, but we have 
sent our flag abroad. [Enthusiastic and long-continued 
applause.] The flag now floats where it never floated 
before, the symbol of freedom, the hope of humauitj^, 
of liberty and civilization. And where that flag floats, 
borne by our soldier boys, there our hearts are. [Loud 
and prolonged cheering.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 241 



CXLI. 

Rejmarks ai the Children's Exercises, Auditorium, 
Chicago, October 8, 1899. 

My Fellow- Citizens : 

I could not be induced to interrupt by speech the 
singing of the American hymn, which is next on the 
program. I can only express to you the very great 
satisfaction it is to me to witness this magnificent 
demonstration of patriotism and love of country and 
of the flag. [Great applause.] 



CXLII. 

Remarks at Quinn Chapel, Chicago, October 8, 1899. 

My Friends : 

It gives me great pleasure to meet with you on this 
memorial day. The noblest sentiment of the human 
heart, after love of God, is love of country, and that in- 
cludes love of home, the corner-stone of its strength and 
safety. Your race has demonstrated its patriotism by 
its sacrifices, its love of the flag by dying for it. That 
is the greatest test of fidelity and loyalty. The nation 
has appreciated the valor and patriotism of the black 
men of the United States. They not only fought in 
Cuba, but in the Philippines, and they are still carry- 
ing the flag as the symbol of liberty and hope to an op- 
pressed people. 

16 



242 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



CXL. 

Remarks at the Marquette Club Banquet, 
Chicago, October 7, 1899. 

Mr. President, Gentlemen of the Marquette Cluh : 

I will not interrupt the orderly progress of the pro- 
gram which has been laid before you, and to which I 
must insist that your chairman shall adhere. I rise at 
this moment only to express my warm appreciation of 
the affectionate salutation of the Marquette Club, and 
to say that I reciprocate it with all my heart. [Ap- 
plause.] 

We are not strangers. This scene to-night is not al- 
together unfamiliar to me. I stood among you once 
before, now more than three years ago, your honored 
guest ; and I have for you all to-night the most grateful 
regard and unstinted gratitude. You have not only 
been my friends, faithful and unfaltering at all times, 
but, what is of more moment, you have been at all times 
faithful to your country, loyal to the inviolability of 
public faith, standing always for honest government 
and honest money [great applause], and forever stand- 
ing for the honor and integrity of the flag wherever it 
floats and wherever it is carried by our soldiers or our 
sailors on land or on sea. [Long-continued applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 243 



CXLIII. 

Speech at the Citizens' Banquet, Chicago, 
October 9, 1899. 

Mr. Toastmaster and Gentlemen : 

I am glad to join you in extending a sincere -welcome 
to the distinguished statesmen and diplomatists who 
represent the great countries adjoining us on the south 
and the north. We are bound to them both by ties of 
neighborhood. We rejoice in their prosperity, and we 
wish them God-speed in the pathway of progress they 
are so energetically and successfully pursuing. [Great 
applause.] 

You have assigned to me the toast '' The Nation "— 
our nation, whose strength and safety rests, not in 
armies nor in navies, but in the love and loyalty of the 
people [great applause], which have never failed to re- 
spond to every emergency and to be all-conquering in 
every peril. 

On the reverse side of the great seal of the United 
States, authorized by Congress June 20, 1782, and 
adopted as the seal of the United States of America 
after its formation under the Federal Constitution, is 
the pyramid, signifying strength and duration. The 
eye over it and the motto allude to the many signal 
interpositions of Providence in favor of the American 
cause. The date underneath, 1776, is that of the 
Declaration of Independence, and the words under it 
signify the beginning of a new American era which 
commences from that date. 



244 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

It is impossible to trace our history since without 
feeling that the Providence which was with us in the 
beginning has continued to the nation his gracious 
interposition. When, unhappily, we have been engaged 
in war, he has given us the victory. Fortunate, indeed, 
that it can be said we have had no clash of arms which 
has ended in defeat, and no responsibility resulting from 
war which has been tainted with dishonor. [Great 
applause.] In peace we have been signally blessed, and 
our progress has gone on unchecked and ever increas- 
ing in the intervening years. In boundless wealth of 
soil and mine and forest nature has favored us, while 
all races of men of every nationality and climate have 
contributed their good blood and brains to make the 
nation what it is. 

From a little less than four millions in 1790 our popu- 
lation has grown to upward of sixty-two millions in 1890, 
and our estimated population to-day, made by the gov- 
ernors of the States, is 77,803,231. We have gone from 
thirteen States to forty-five. We have annexed every 
variety of territory [applause], from the coral reefs 
and cocoanut groves of Key West to the icy regions 
of northern Alaska — ten-itory skirting the Atlantic, the 
Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific, and the Arctic, and the 
islands of the Pacific and Caribbean Sea, and we have 
but recently still further extended our jurisdiction to 
the far-away islands of the Philippines. [Great and 
long-continued applause.] 

Our territory is more than four times larger than it 
was when the treaty of peace was signed in 1783. Our 
industrial growth has been even more phenomenal than 
that of population and territory. Our wealth, estimated 
in 1790 at $402,000,000, has advanced to $65,000,000,000. 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 245 

Education has not been overlooked. The mental and 
moral equipment of the youth, upon whom in the future 
will rest the responsibilities of government, has had 
the unceasing and generous care of the States and the 
nation. We expended in 1897-98 in public education 
open to all over $202,115,548, in secondary education 
more than $23,474,683, and for higher education for 
the same period, $30,307,902 5 and the number of pupils 
attending our public schools in 1896-97 was 14,652,492, 
or about twenty per cent, of our population. [Ap- 
plause.] My countrymen, is this not a pillar of strength 
to the republic ? [Applause.] 

Our national credit, often tried, has ever been upheld. 
It has no superior and no stain. The United States has 
never repudiated a national obligation [great applause] 
either to its creditors or to humanity. [Great applause.] 
It will not now begin to do either. [Great applause.] It 
never struck a blow except for civilization, and never 
struck its colors. [Prolonged applause.] 

Has the pyramid lost any of its strength? The 
pyramid put on the reverse side of the great seal of 
the United States by the fathers as signifying strength 
and duration, has it lost any of its strength ? [Voices, 
" No ! "] Has the republic lost any of its virility ? Has 
the self-governing principle been weakened? Is there 
any present menace to our stability and duration? 
[Voices, " No ! "] These questions bring but one 
answer. The republic is sturdier and stronger than 
ever before. [Great applause.] Government by the 
people has not been retarded, but advanced. [Applause.] 
Freedom under the flag is more universal than when 
the Union was formed. Our steps have been forward, 
not backward. We have not stood still. ^' From Plyni- 



246 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

outh Rock to the Philippines [great applause] the 
grand triumphant march of human liberty has never 
paused." [Great applause.] 

Fraternity and union are deej^ly embedded in the 
hearts of the American people. For half a century 
before the Civil War disunion was the fear of men of 
all sections. That word has gone out of the American 
vocabulary. [Great applause.] It is spoken now only 
as a historical memory. North, South, East, and West 
were never so welded together, and while they may 
differ about internal policies, they are all for the Union 
and the maintenance of the integrity of the flag. [Great 
applause.] 

Has patriotism died out in the hearts of the people? 
[Voices, "No!"] Witness the two hundred and fifty 
thousand men springing to arms and in thirty days 
organized into regiments for the Spanish War, and a 
million more ready to respond [applause] ; and the more 
recent enlistment of seventy thousand men, with many 
other thousands anxious to enlist, but whose services 
were not needed— not, my fellow-citizens, for the glory 
of arms, but for the love of peace. [Applause.] Has 
American heroism declined ? [Voices, '^ No ! "] The 
shattered and sinking fleets of the Spanish navy at 
Manila and Santiago, the charge of San Juan hill and 
El Caney, and the intrepid valor and determination of 
our gallant troops in more than fifty engagements in 
Luzon, attest the fact that the American soldier and 
sailor have lost none of the qualities which made our 
earlier army and navy illustrious and invincible. [Great 
applause.] 

After one hundred and twenty-three years the pyramid 
stands unshaken. It has had some severe shocks, but 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 247 

it remains immovable. It has endured the storms 
of war, only to be strengthened. It stands firmer and 
gives greater promise of duration than when the fathers 
made it the symbol of their faith. [Applause.] 

May we not feel assured, may we not feel certain to- 
night that, if we do our duty, the Providence which 
favored the undertakings of the fathers, and every step 
of our progress since, will continue his watchful care 
and guidance over us, and that '' the hand that led us 
to our present place will not relax Ms grasp till we 
have reached the glorious goal be has fixed for us in 
the achievement of his end ? " [Prolonged applause.] 



CXLIV. 

Speech at the Reunion op the Army of the 
Tennessee, Chicago, October 10, 1899. 

General Dodge, my Comrades : 

It is not my intention to interrupt your business 
meeting, and I have only called that I might pay my 
respects and bring my personal good wishes to the 
Army of the Tennessee. I have heard with gratitude 
and satisfaction the warm words of your president in 
pledging the support of the veterans of the Army of 
the Tennessee to the flag and to the patriotic purposes 
of the government of the United States. [Great ap- 
plause.] I needed no such pledge from your president. 
I could have known without his stating it where this 
grand Army of the Tennessee would be when the flag 
was assailed and wherever it was assailed, carried by 
the soldiers and sailors of the United States. [Great 



248 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

applause.] I could have known where this veteran 
army would stand when I recalled for an instant its 
history, with its Grant, its Sherman, its McPherson, 
and its Logan. [Applause.] 

As I have said, I have only come to bring to you the 
homage which I feel for the veterans of 1861, who for 
more than thirty-three years have taught patriotism to 
the people of the United States. And when the hour 
of our peril came last j'^ear, as a result of your instruc- 
tion, more than a million men volunteered to defend the 
flag. [Enthusiastic applause.] 

I thank you for your cordial welcome, and bid you 
all good morning. 

CXLV. 

Speech to the Chicago Bricklayers and Stone- 
Masons' Union, Chicago, October 10, 1899. 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : 

It gives me great pleasure to meet with the working- 
men of the city of Chicago. Of the many receptions 
that have been tendered me during my three days' stay 
in your city, none has given me more pleasure or greater 
satisfaction than the welcome accorded to me in this 
hall and the kind words spoken in my behalf by your 
president. [Cheers.] I have come, not to make an ad- 
dress to you, but rather to give evidence, by my presence, 
of the great interest I feel in the cause of labor, and to 
congratulate you and your fellow- workmen everywhere 
upon the improved condition of the country and upon 
our general prosperity. [Applause.] 
j "When labor is employed at fair wages, homes are 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 249 

made happy. The labor of the United States is better 
employed, better paid, and commands greater respect 
than that of any other nation in the world. [Applause.] 
What I would leave with you here to-night, in the mo- 
ment I shall occupy, is the thought that you should i 
improve all the advantages and opportunities of tliis^ 
free government. Your families, your boys and girls, 
are very close to youi- heart-strings, and you ought to 
avail yourselves of the opportunity offered your chil- 
dren by the excellent schools of the city of Chicago. 
Give your children the best education obtainable, and 
that is the best equipment you can give any Ameri- 
can. Integrity wins its way everywhere, and what I 
do not want the working-men of this country to do is to 
establish hostile camps and divide the people of the 
United States into classes. I do not want any wall 
built against the ambitions of your boy, nor any barrier 
put in the way of his occupying the highest places in 
the gift of the people. My fellow-citizens, I must stop. 
I leave my best wishes and good will, with the prayer 
that you may always have good employment, good 
wages, and that in your homes you may have love and 
contentment. [Great cheering.] 



250 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



CXLVI. 

Speech at Banquet of the Comimercial Club, 
Chicago, October 10, 1899. 

Mr. President and Gentlemen : 

I am honored to be the guest of this great club, 
representing, as it does, the energy and activity and 
enterprise of this inland city. I can testify to the 
energy of your people. If I ever had any doubt about 
the wisdom of eight hours being a fuU day's work, that 
doubt has been removed. [Laughter.] I understand 
there is already a new conflict between the federal 
committee and the festival committee over the fact that 
thirty minutes of my time in the last four days re- 
mained unassigned. [Laughter.] 

I congratulate you, gentlemen, upon the growth and 
advancement of your city and the evidences of pros- 
perity everywhere observed. Nothing impressed me 
more, in the multitudes on the streets yesterday, than 
the smiling, happy faces of the people. That was evi- 
dence to me of your real and substantial prosperity. It 
meant steady employment, good wages, happy homes, 
and these are always indispensable to good government 
and to the weKare of the people. [Applause.] 

We have had a wonderful industrial development in 
the last two years. Our workshops never were so busy, 
our trade at home was never so large, and our foreign 
trade exceeds that of any like period in all our history. 
In the year 1899 we bought abroad upward of $697,000,- 
000 worth of goods, and in the same year sold abroad 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 251 

$1,227,000,000 worth, giving a balance of trade in our 
favor of $530,000,000. This means more labor at home, 
more money at home, more earnings at home. Our 
products are carried on every sea and find a market in 
all the ports of the world. In 1888 the Japanese govern- 
ment took from us 8.86 per cent, of its total imports, and 
in 1898 14.57 per cent. We are the greatest producers 
of pig-iron, and raise three fourths of the cotton of the 
world. Our manufactures of iron and steel exceed 
those of any other country. 

The growth of the railway systems of the United 
States is phenomenal. From thirty miles in 1830 we 
have gone to 184,590 miles in 1897. The system of 
reciprocal agreements with foreign countries, provided 
by the tariff act of 1897, promises beneficial results in 
the increase of our export trade. Most of the conven- 
tions already made await ratification before going into 
effect, but the first reciprocal arrangement, under the 
third section of the act, made with France, has now 
been in operation over a year. It is intended espe- 
cially to cover some important products of the West and 
Northwest which are very largely handled by the mer- 
chants of Chicago. 

A comparison of these special exports of the United 
States to France for the years 1898 and 1899 shows an 
increase in one year of reciprocity of about 16 per cent, 
in logs and lumber, an increase of over 240 per cent, in 
export of bacon and hams, and an increase of 51 per 
cent, in the export of lard and its compounds. We 
have also, my fellow-citizens, made a parcels-post ar- 
rangement with Germany— the first ever made between 
the United States and any country in Europe. It went 
into effect on October 1, and permits the interchange 



252 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

througli the mails of all articles up to eleven pounds 
in weight at the rate of twelve cents per pound. This 
has been the result of fifteen years of effort to reach 
such an agreement, but not until now has it been carried 
through with success. 

Our ship-building has been greatly increased. [Ap- 
plause.] For the first time in all our history the ton- 
nage of our steam- vessels on June 1 exceeded the tonnage 
of all our sailing-vessels, barges, and all other craft. We 
built in 1897 and 1898 more vessels of steel than of 
all other materials combined. Our tonnage increased 
during the latter year 100,000 tons, and is without a 
parallel in our recent history. Larger ocean steam- 
ships are under construction in the United States than 
ever before. Our ship-building plants are being en- 
larged and new establishments projected. There is no 
better time than the present, therefore, with all these 
favorable conditions and others which will suggest 
themselves to you, for the development of a powerful 
merchant marine. [Applause.] Our relations to other 
nations by reason of our new possessions make this duty 
even more commanding than it has ever been. [Ap- 
plause.] American shipping under the American flag 
should be found in all oceans, and our trade must go 
wherever our flag goes. 

Our internal commerce has even exceeded the growth 
of our outward commerce. Our railroad transportation 
lines never were so crowded, while our builders of cars 
and engines are unable to fill the pressing orders made 
necessary by the increased traffic. [Applause.] 

We have everything, gentlemen, upon which to con- 
gratulate ourselves as to the present condition of the 
country. The only fear I have ever had, and I speak 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 253 

to business men who are mucli more familiar with the 
subject than I can be— the only fear I have ever had is 
that we might overdo it, and that really we were not 
exercising the conservatism so essential to substantial 
business. You would doubtless disagree with me as to 
this fear and say it was without foundation. I trust I 
am mistaken, and I am told by business men every- 
where that the business of the country now rests upon 
a substantial basis, and that you are really only making 
what there is a market for ; and as long as you do that, 
of course, you are doing a safe business and our markets 
are going to increase. [Applause.] Our products are 
going into every port, and the reason for it is that we 
make the best products and undersell everybody else 
in the world. 

I am glad to join in your welcome to the representa- 
tive of Mexico and the representative of the Canadian 
government. [Great applause.] 



CXLVII. 

Speech at the Fair Grounds, Evansville, Indlusta, 

October 11, 1899. 

My Fellotv-Citizens : 

It gives me very great pleasure to participate with 
you, men of the North and men of the South, in this 
glad reunion. We are already unified. [Great applause.] 
The peace which Grant and Lee made at Appomattox 
has been kept [great applause], not by law or restraint, 
but by love and fraternal regard [applause] ; and the 
Union to-day rests, not in force, which might fail, but in 



254 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

the hearts of the people, which cannot fail— a union that 
can never be severed. [Applause.] If I have been per- 
mitted in the slightest degree to help in the work of 
reconciliation and unification, I shall hold it the greatest 
honor of my life. [Great applause.] 

When the call was made for troops to prosecute the 
Spanish War, men from the North and the South, with- 
out regard to creed, political or religious, or nationality, 
rallied to the standard of the Union. [Applause.] The 
best men of the South came— the sons of the old Con- 
federate soldiers ; the best men of the North came — the 
sons of the old soldiers of the republic. All joined 
together in heart and hand to maintain the flag of their 
country and follow wherever it might lead. [Great 
applause.] We have been more than reconciled — 
cemented in faith and affection ; and our reuniting 
has been baptized in the best blood of both sections of 
our beloved country, [Cheers.] If a gallant Northern 
soldier— the lamented Miley— put the flag up at Santi- 
ago, a Southern soldier — the gallant Brumby — put it 
up over Manila. [Great applause.] And, my fellow- 
citizens, it rests upon us to put the past beliind us, ex- 
cept as a sacred and glorious memory, and to look to the 
future. 

This nation relies upon the patriotism of the people 
of the North and South to stand by the highest ideal of 
free government and pursue the path of duty and des- 
tiny with unfaltering step and unfailing courage. 

We come together, not as a third of a century ago, 
with arms in our hands, but with love for each other 
in our hearts, ready together to give the best we have 
to the cause of country. [Long-continued applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 255 



CXLVIII. 



Eejl^ks from the Train at Evansville, Indiana, 
October 11, 1899. 



'■7 



My Fellow- Citizens : 

I appear only for a moment, in response to your re- 
peated calls, that I may express to all of you my very 
warm appreciation of the generous welcome which has 
been accorded to me by the citizens of this thriving 
city of Indiana. I am not only grateful for the re- 
ception given by the citizens, but I am likewise grate- 
ful for the reception given by the visitors representing 
the North and the South [applause], now forever united. 
[Great applause.] 

The strength and safety of this great nation of ours 
do not rest in armies or in navies, but in the love and 
loyalty of its people. [Applause.] And so long as we 
have the people behind that, so long as we have the 
sentiment that goes out from the homes and the firesides 
of the American people, so long will we have the best 
citizenship and at last the best country. [Great ap 
plause.] 

CXLIX. 

Speech at Vincennes, Indiana, October 11, 1899. 

Ml/ Fellow-Citizens : 

We ought to be a very happy people. We are a very 
happy people. The blessings which have been showered 



256 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

upon us have been almost boundless, and no nation in 
the world has more to be thankful for than ours. We 
have been blessed with good crops and fair prices. 
Wages and employment have waited upon labor, and, 
differing from what it was a few years ago, labor is 
not waiting on the outside for wages. Our financial 
condition was never better than now. We have good 
money and plenty of it circulating as our medium of 
exchange. National banks may fail, fluctuation in 
prices come and go, but the money of the country re- 
mains always good ; and when you have a dollar of it 
you know that dollar is worth one hundred cents. 

Not only have we prosperity, but we have patriotism ; 
and what more do we want ? We are at peace with all 
the nations of the world, and were never on better terms 
and closer relations with each of them than we are to- 
day. We have yet some trouble in the Philippines, but 
the gallantry of the brave boys who have gone there 
will, I trust, soon put down that rebellion against the 
sovereignty of the United States. [Great and long- 
continued applause.] 

CL. 

Speech at Terre Haute, Indiana, October 11, 1899. 

My Felloiv- Citizens : 

I have been very greatly pleased, as I have journeyed 
through your State, with what I have seen and heard — 
the evidences of good feeling and cheerfulness on the 
part of the people, and of prosperity in your fields and 
your workshops. It afforded me much satisfaction to 
give greeting at the great reunion in the city of Evans- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 257 

ville to the soldiers who fought against each other from 
'61 to '65. There I saw the Blue and the Gray vying 
with each other in expressions of love of country and 
devotion to the flag. I saw, also, many of the young sol- 
diers of the Spanish War furnished by the State of 
Indiana, and I therefore saw not only the patriotism of 
'61, but I saw the patriotism of '98. 

It gave me pleasure also, as I approached your city, 
to see the working-men from your great mills out in 
line, in sight of the train, to extend me greeting and 
welcome. And not the least of the pleasure of coming 
to Terre Haute is to meet my old and valued friend, 
the veteran patriot and statesman, the honored citizen 
of your own city, Richard W. Thompson. [Prolonged 
applause. ] 



CLI. 



Speech at Danville, Illinois, October 11, 1899. 

My Fellow- Citizens : 

This was not on the program. I had no idea that we 
were to stop at the city of Danville, and much less did I 
think I would be greeted by such an audience of my feUow- 
citizens. It gives me very great pleasure to meet you all, 
to meet you at the home of my distinguished and long- 
time friend. Representative Cannon. [Applause.] He 
is the man to whom everybody must apply if he wants 
an appropriation. [Laughter and applause.] We are 
collecting just now a miUion dollars for every working- 
day of the month from our internal revenue taxes, and 
you do not seem to be very much oppressed here on that 
account. [Laughter.] We are collecting about six 

17 



258 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

hundred and fifty thousand dollars every working-day of 
every month from the tariff that we put on foreign prod- 
ucts that come into the United States from other countries 
[great applause], and that does not seem to give you any 
serious trouble here. [Laughter.] That vast amount of 
money received into the Treasury daily from internal 
taxes and customs tariffs meets the ordinary expenses 
of the government, and just now a part of it is used to 
pay the soldiers and sailors who are engaged in the dis- 
tant islands suppressing rebelHon against the sover- 
eignty of the United States. [Great applause.] And 
you can be assured that not a dollar of that will go out 
except for honest purposes while your distinguished 
representative presides over the Committee on Appro- 
priations of the House of Representatives. [Long-con- 
tinued applause.] 

CLIL 

Speech at Hoopestown, Illinois, October 11, 1899. 

FeUotv-Citizens : 

We have seen a great many people to-day ; we have 
been greeted by many, many thousands of our fellow- 
citizens; but none of the greetings has been more 
hearty than that which you accord us here to-night. 
From the appearance and cheerfulness of the people, it 
has seemed to me that all things must be going well 
with you ; that you have employment at fair wages ; 
that you have good crops at fair prices ; and that your 
great industry here, that of canning, is in every respect 
most satisfactory and successful. I congratulate you 
that you are using American tin, for that is now 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 259 

one of the great enterprises of the country. [Great 
applause.] 

We are not a military people. We love peace. We 
love the pursuits of peace. We are not a military 
government, and never will become one ; it is against 
the genius of our institutions and the spirit of the 
people. The government of the United States rests 
in the hearts and consciences of the people. It is their 
government ; it represents them ; it is the agent of 
their will; and while we are not a military govern- 
ment or a military people, we never lack for soldiers 
in any cause which the people espouse. [Great ap- 
plause.] From the days of the Revolution down to 
the present hour, in every instance of need or peril, 
the citizens of, the United States have rallied, almost 
as one man, to fight its battles and defend the honor 
of the country. [Applause.] In our recent war with 
Spain, the people, not only of your State, but of every 
State of the Union, North and South, rushed forward 
by hundreds of thousands to serve their country; and 
they will not abate their patriotism till every rebellion 
everywhere and by whomsoever conducted shall be 
put down. [Great applause.] Is that what you want, 
men of Illinois? [General cry of "Yes!"] That is 
what is being done and what will be done. [Cries 
of " Good ! "] Our people become soldiers of the re- 
public to defend with their lives what thej^ love; but 
the moment the emergency is over, that moment they 
rush back to the peaceful walks of citizenship. There 
never was a grander, more subhme scene in American 
history than at the close of the Civil War. When 
Appomattox came, with the peace which it brought, the 
mighty army of two million six hundred thousand men 



260 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

from every section of the North melted back into cit- 
izenship, and ever since have been upholding as good 
citizens the government they so faithfully served. [Great 
and long-continued applause.] 



CLIII. 

Speech at Watseka, Illinois, October 11, 1899. 

My Fellow- Citizens : 

I feel like making more than a mere passing ac- 
knowledgment of your kindly greeting. I recall that 
in this community and county were some of my best 
and earliest friends, and I will be pardoned if I say that 
through aU the years since they have been firm and un- 
faltering in their support and generous in upholding 
my hands. 

The demonstrations which we have witnessed to-day, 
throughout your State and in the State of Indiana, in- 
dicate the deep interest which the people feel in the 
affairs of the government. It is your government. It 
is what you make it. Its virtue and its vigor come 
from you — come from the firesides of our country; and 
your unceasing vigilance not only helps the public ser- 
vant, but improves the public service. Unhappy wiU 
be the day for our country when the people become 
indifferent to its principles and its mission ; when they 
lose their interest or relax their vigilance. Permit me 
to say that those who serve you in subordinate places 
in the government are among the most faithful that can 
be found anywhere. The enormous sums of money that 
are collected by the United States, the vast machinery 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 261 

scattered from one end of the country to the other for 
the collection and disbursement of these sums year in 
and year out, show even a smaller percentage of loss or 
waste than in the ordinary business occupations of life. 
Providence has blessed us. We have opportunities that 
come to no other peoples in the world. Let us keep 
sacred this great government that dispenses its bless- 
ings equally to all. [Great and prolonged applause.] 



CLIV. 

Rejiarks at Red Wing, Minnesota, 
October 12, 1899. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

In the moment we shall remain with you, I desire only 
to express my appreciation of your greeting. 

I have come to your State to make public acknowledg- 
ment of the patriotism of your people, and to give wel- 
come to the gallant Thirteenth Minnesota, which for the 
last twelve months has been upholding the sovereignty 
of the United States and the glorious flag of our Union. 
[Enthusiastic applause.] 

As I have passed through the country I have been 
glad to note that not only are the people filled with 
patriotism, but that prosperity everywhere abounds, 
and that our people are made happy by steady employ- 
ment, good crops, and fair prices. [Great applause.] 



262 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



CLV. 

Address at Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 12, 1899. 

Governor Lind, Mayor Gray, Members of the Thirteenth 
Volunteer Regiment, and my Fellow-Citizens : 
I have come from the capital of the nation that I 
might give the nation's welcome to a regiment of 
the nation's defenders. [Applause.] I have come to 
voice the love and gratitude of every American heart 
that loves the flag. [Applause.] I bid you welcome 
because you did your duty; and that is the highest 
tribute that can be paid to any soldier in the world. 
[Great applause.] I do not think the members of 
this regiment themselves, or the regiments constituting 
the Eighth Army-Corps in the Philippines, realize the 
importance and heroism of their action after the 
treaty of peace was signed and ratified. And I 
want to say to you men and to Colonel Summers — 
General Summers now, because of his gallantry [ap- 
plause]— that the officers and men of the Eighth 
Army-Corps sent to Washington telling me they would 
stay in the Philippines till I could create a new army and 
send it there to take their place. [Great applause.] I 
come to bid you welcome, and to give j'ou the honor of 
the nation because you have sustained its flag [applause] ; 
because you have refused to stack arms and to sound 
a retreat. [Applause.] And you have come back having 
a high j)lace in the hearts and affections of the American 
people, and gratitude that will continue for all time. 
[Applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 263 

You have also, by your services, added much to the 
cause of humanity, added much to the advancement of 
ci\dlization, which has so characterized the century now 
fading away. 

This century has been most memorable in the world's 
progress and history. The march of mankind in moral 
and intellectual advancement has been onward and up- 
ward. The growth of the world's material interests is 
so vast that the figures would almost seem to be drawn 
from the realm of imagination rather than from the 
field of fact. All peoples have felt the elevating in- 
fluences of the century. Humanity and home have been 
lifted up. Nations have been drawn closer together in 
feeling and interest and sentiment. Contact has removed 
old prejudices at home and abroad, and brought about a 
better understanding, which has destroyed enmity and 
promoted amity. Civilization has achieved great vic- 
tories, and to the gospel of good will there are now few 
dissenters. The great powers, under the inspiration of 
the Czar of Russia, have been sitting together in a par- 
liament of peace, seeking to find a common basis for the 
adjustment of controversies without war and waste. 
Wliile they have not made war impossible, they have 
made peace more probable, and have emphasized the 
universal love of peace. They have made a gain for 
the world's repose ; and Americans, while rejoicing in 
what was accomplished, rejoice also for their partici- 
pation in the great cause, yet to be advanced, we trust, 
to more perfect fulfilment. 

The century has blessed us as a nation. WhUe it has 
not given us perfect peace, it has brought us constant 
and ever-increasing blessings, and imposed upon us no 
humiliation or dishonor. [Applause.] 



264 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

We have had wars with foreign powers, and the un- 
happy one at home; but all terminated in no loss of 
prestige or honor or territory, but a gain in all. [Great 
applause.] 

The increase of our territory has added vastly to our 
strength and prosperity without changing our repub- 
lican character. [Applause.] It has given wider scope 
to democratic principles and enlarged the area for re- 
publican institutions. [Applause.] 

I sometimes think we do not realize what we have, 
and the solemn trust we have committed to our keep- 
ing. The study of geography and history has now 
more than a passing interest to the American people. 
It is worth recalling that when the Federal Union was 
formed we held 909,050 square miles of territory, and 
in less than one hundred years we have grown to 
3,845,694 square miles. [Great applause.] 

The first acquisition, in 1803, known as the Louisi- 
ana Purchase, embraced 883,072 square miles, ex- 
clusive of the area west of the Rocky Mountains. Its 
vastness and value will be best understood when I say 
that it comprises the entire States of Arkansas, Mis- 
souri, Iowa, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, and 
parts of the States of Minnesota, Kansas, Colorado, 
Montana, Wyoming, Louisiana, all of the Indian Terri- 
tory, and part of Oklahoma Territory. It would seem 
almost incredible to the present generation that this 
rich addition to the federal domain should have been 
opposed ; and yet it was resisted in every form and by 
every kind of assault. The ceded territory was char- 
acterized as a " malarial swamp," its prairies destitute 
of trees or vegetation. It was commonly charged that 
we had been cheated by giving fifteen million dollars 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 265 

for a territory so worthless aud pestilentiax that it could 
never be inhabited or put to use [laughter and applause] ; 
and it was also gravely asserted that the purchase would 
lead to complications and wars with European powers. 
In the debate in the Senate over the treaty a senator 
from Connecticut said : 

The vast and unmanageable extent which the accession of 
Louisiana will give the United States, the consequent dispersion 
of our population, and the destruction of that balance which it is 
so important to maintain between the Eastern and Western States, 
threaten, at no very distant day, the subversion of our Union. 
[Laughter. ] 

A senator from Delaware said : 

But as to Louisiana, —this new, immense, unbounded world, —if 
it should ever be incorporated into the Union, of which I have no 
idea, and which can only be done by amending the Constitution, I 
believe it will be the greatest curse that could at present befall us. 
It may be productive of innumerable evils, and especially of one 
that I fear to ever look upon. . . . Thus oui* citizens will be re- 
moved to the immense distance of two or three thousand miles 
from the capital of the Union, where they will scarcely ever feel 
the rays of the general government ; their affections will become 
alienated ; they will gradually begin to view us as strangers ; they 
will form other commercial connections, and our interests will 
become distinct. . . . And I do say that under existing circum- 
stances, even supposing that this extent of territory was a desir- 
able acquisition, fifteen millions of dollars was a most enormous 
sum to give. 

A distinguished representative from Virginia said he 
feared the eifect of the vast extent of our empire ; he 
feared the elfects of the increased value of labor, the 
decrease in the value of lauds, and the influence of cli- 
mate upon our citizens who should migrate thither. He 
did fear (thougb this land was represented as flowing 
with milk and honey) that this Eden of the New "World 



266 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

would prove a cemetery for the bodies of our citizens who 
emigrated to it. [Laughter.] 

Imperialism, as it was termed, had a chief place in the 
catalogue of disasters which would follow the ratification 
of the Louisiana treaty, and it was alleged that this was 
the first and sure step to the creation of an empire and the 
subversion of the Constitution. The expression '' plane- 
tary policy," which is now employed by some critics, so 
far as I have been able to discover, first appeared here. 
Jefferson was made the subject of satirical verse : 

See Mm commence, land speculator. 

And buy up the realm of nature, 

Towns, cities, Indians, Spaniards, prairies. . . . 

The opponents, however, were in the minority, and 
the star of the republic did not set [great applause], 
and the mighty West was brought under the flag of 
justice, freedom, and opportunity. [Continued applause.] 

In 1819 we added 69,749 square miles, which now 
comprise Florida and parts of Alabama, Mississippi, 
and Louisiana. 

In 1845 we received the cession of Texas. It con- 
tained 376,931 square miles, and embraced the State of 
Texas and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyo- 
ming, and New Mexico. 

The next cession was under the treaty of 1848, con- 
taining 522,568 square miles, embracing the States of 
California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado and 
Wyoming, and of the Territories of Arizona and New 
Mexico. 

In 1853 we acquired by the Gadsden Purchase 45,535 
square miles, which embrace parts of Arizona and New 
Mexico. 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 267 

The next great acquisition was that of Alaska in 1867, 
containing 599,446 square miles. This treaty, like that 
for the Louisiana Purchase, was fiercely resisted. When 
the House had under consideration the bill appropriat- 
ing the sum of $7,200,000, the amount of purchase-money 
for Alaska agreed upon by the treaty, the minority re- 
port on that bill quoted approvingly an article which 
characterized Alaska as a " terra incognita,^^ and stated 
'' that persons well informed as to Alaska are ungrateful 
enough to hint that we could have bought a much 
superior elephant in Siam or Bombay for one hundredth 
part of the money, with not a ten thousandth part of 
the expense incurred in keeping the animal in proper 
condition." [Laughter.] 

The minority report proceeded to say that 

The committee, having considered the various questions involved 
and the evidence in regard to this country under consideration, is 
forced to the conclusion that the possession of the conn tri/ is of no 
value to the government of the United States. That it wiU be a 
source of weakness instead of power, and a constant annual ex- 
pense for which there will be no adequate return. That it has no 
capacity as an agricultural country. That so far as known it has no 
value as a mineral country. . . . Tliat its fur trade is of insignifi- 
cant value to us as a nation, and will speedily come to an end. 
That the fisheries are of doubtful value, and that whatever the 
value of its fisheries, its fur trade, its timber, or its minerals, they 
were all open to the citizens of the United States under existing 
treaties. That the right to govern a nation or nations of savages, 
in a climate unfit for the habitation of civilized men, was not 
worthy of purchase. . . . They therefore report the following 
resolution : Resolved, That it is inexpedient to appropriate money 
for the pm-ehase of Russian America. 

In the debate in the House a distinguished represen- 
tative from Massachusetts said : 



268 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

If we are to pay for Russia's frieudship this amount, I desire to 
give her the $7,200,000 and let her keep Alaska. I have no doubt 
that at any time within the last twenty years we could have had 
Alaska for the asking, provided we would have taken it as a gift ; 
but no man, except one insane enough to buy the earthquakes of 
St. Thomas and the ice-fields of Greenland, could be found to agi'ee 
to any other terms for its acquisition to this country. 

To tliis treaty the opponents were in the minority; 
and that great, rich territory, from which we have drawn 
many and many times over its purchase price, and with 
phenomenal wealth yet undeveloped, is ours in spite of 
their opposition. [Great applause.] 

In the last year we have added to the territory be- 
longing to the United States the Hawaiian Islands, one 
of the gems of the Pacific Ocean, containing 6740 square 
miles; Porto Rico, containing 3600 square miles; 
Guam, containing 175 square miles ; and the Philippine 
archipelago, embracing approximately 143,000 square 
miles. [Great applause.] This latest acquisition is 
about one sixth the size of the original thirteen States. 
It is larger than the combined area of New Jersey, 
Delaware, Maryland, Vii'ginia, North Carolina, South 
Carolina, and the District of Columbia. It exceeds in 
area all of the New England States. It is almost as 
large as Washington and Oregon combined, and 
greater than Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois united; three 
times larger than New York, and three and one half 
times larger than the State of Ohio. 

The treaty of peace with Spain, which gave us the 
Philippines, Porto Rico, and Guam, met with some op- 
position in the Senate, but was ratified by that body by 
more than a two thirds vote ; while in the House the 
appropriation of twenty million dollars was made with 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 269 

little or no opposition. [Great applause.] As in the 
case of the Louisiana Purchase and Alaska, the oppo- 
nents of the treaty were in the minority, and the star 
of hope to an oppressed people was not extinguished. 
[Continued applause.] 

The future of these new possessions is in the keeping 
of Congress, and Congress is the servant of the people. 
That they will be retained under the benign sovereignty 
of the United States I do not permit myself to doubt. 
[Enthusiastic applause.] That they will prove a rich and 
invaluable heritage I feel assured. That Congress will 
provide for them a government which will bring them 
blessings, which will promote their material interests as 
well as advance theu' people in the path of civihzation and 
intelligence, I confidently believe. They will not be gov- 
erned as vassals or serfs or slaves ; thej^ will be given a 
government of liberty, regulated by law [great applause], 
honestly administered, without oppressing exactions, 
taxation without tjTanny, justice without bribe, educa- 
tion without distinction of social condition, freedom of 
rehgious worship, and protection in " life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness." [Great and long-continued ap- 
plause.] 

CLVI. 

Speech at the Auditorium, St. Paul, Minnesota, 
October 12, 1899. 

My FeJlow-Citisens : 

I have been more than gratified to meet the people 
of the State of Minnesota, and it gives me special and 
peculiar pleasure to meet with my friends and fellow- 



270 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

citizens of the great city of St. Paul. The demonstra- 
tion of patriotism that has been seen on every hand as 
I have traveled through the East and the West into 
your State is most inspiring, and I never look into the 
faces of a great American audience that I do not feel 
that the free institutions of the United States are for- 
ever safe in their hands. [Great applause.] 

The patriotism of the American people takes the place 
of a large standing army. We do not need such an 
army in the United States. We can have an army on 
any notice if the nation is in peril or its standard is 
threatened. [Applause.] Eager is every American citi- 
zen to answer the call to arms, and just as eager to come 
back to the paths of peace when the emergency is past. 
[Great applause.] 

I was glad to welcome back to the State of Minnesota 
the Thirteenth Volunteer Infantry. [Great applause.] 
I was glad they did not want to come home until the 
government of the United States was ready to dispense 
with their services. [Continued applause.] I was glad 
that, no matter who advised otherwise, they did not pro- 
pose to beat a retreat [great applause] ; and there is not 
a man, woman, or child in the State of Minnesota to-day 
who is not proud that they stayed there until their 
places were filled by other troops. [Great applause.] 
The American soldier never runs away from duty [ap- 
plause], even when his time is up. [Great applause.] 
The other day, when that gallant Tennessee regiment 
that had been in the Philippines for more than a year 
had embarked upon the good ship Sherman to come home, 
and our forces at Cebu were attacked, they got off at 
once and went and shed their blood with the other sol- 
diers to maintain American honor. [Great applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 271 

So I say we do not need large standing armies, for we 
have in the hearts of the American people a purpose to 
do and die, if need be, in the service of the republic. 
[Great applause.] 

I am glad you have prosperity here. [Applause.] 
You all look like it. [Applause.] You act like it, and I 
hope it has come to stay. [Great applause.] 



CLVII. 

Speech at Superior, Wisconsin, October 13, 1899. 

My FeUoiv-Citisens : 

It is plain to see that the people of Superior and 
vicinity love their country. The demonstration of the 
morning would indicate to the most casual observer 
that these people, men, women, and children, are loyal 
to the flag and faithful in upholding its honor wherever 
it has been raised. [Great applause.] 

To come again to Superior gives me special plea- 
sure. I remember years ago to have been a guest of 
your city. I remember the warmth of my greeting 
then, but this far surpasses anything that has gone be- 
fore ; and no reception, great as it has been, in our long 
journey has been more beautiful or impressive than the 
one you have given us here to-day. [Enthusiastic ap- 
plause.] 

I have been glad to note your progress and your pros- 
perity ; the difference between your condition when I 
was last here and your condition now. The country is 
altogether too busy with active industry and thriving 
commerce to listen any longer to the prophet of evil. 



272 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

[Applause.] We are engaged now in looking after our- 
selves and in taking care of ourselves ; and we liave 
discovered that the best statesmanship for America is 
that which looks to the highest interests of American 
labor and the highest development of American re- 
sources. [Great applause.] 

The people of this country are not only prosperous, 
but they are patriotic. No State in the Union was more 
prompt to answer the call of country than yours. The 
whole Union, North and South, quickly responded to 
the call to arms, and when peace came were as quick 
to enter the paths of peace. [Applause.] 

I thank you most heartily. I thank the school-girls 
and the school-boys. I thank you all for this demon- 
stration, not for me, but for the country and the flag. 
[Long-continued and enthusiastic applause.] 



CLVIII. 

Speech at Duluth, Minnesota October 13, 1899. 

My FeUoiv-Citizens : 

Mj^ welcome to Duluth has been unique and most 
gracious— greeted at the station by the people of your 
city and vicinity, escorted by my comrades of the Civil 
War on the right and the left, led by the young soldiers 
of the Spanish War, and then the final crowning con- 
summation of it all, the welcome of the school-children 
of the city of Duluth around and about the beau- 
tiful temple of learning, open to all, rich and poor 
alike. [Great applause.] 

All that we have seen about us this morning typifies 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 273 

and illustrates the government of the United States. It 
rests in the hearts and consciences of the people. It is 
defended, whenever it is assailed, by its citizen soldiery ; 
and it furnishes education free to all the young, that 
they may take upon themselves the great trust of 
carrying forward, without abatement of vigor, this 
fabric of government. [Enthusiastic applause.] No 
picture more beautiful was ever presented to human 
vision, than the one we see before us to-day. [Con- 
tinued applause.] The schools of our country lie at 
the very foundation of our institutions. They are 
the very citadel of our power. They constitute the 
corner-stone of our safety and security. Ever}^ boy 
and every girl in the United States can have an educa- 
tion without money and without price. They can 
have an education that equips them for every duty 
of life ; and I want to tell you, young people, while you 
have an opportunity di-aw deeply from this fountain of 
learning, for when you get older there is less time for 
the pursuit of knowledge in our busy, rushing Kfe. Fill 
your minds with useful knowledge ; and I see you are 
filling your hearts brimful of patriotism as you hold 
the flag of your country in youi- hands. [Enthusiastic 
applause.] 

Side by side with education must be character. Do 
not forget that. There is nothing in this world that 
lasts so long or wears so well as good character ; and it 
is something everybody can have. It is just as easy to 
get into the habit of doing good as it is to get into the 
habit of doing evil. With education and integrity every 
avenue of honor, every door of usefulness, every path- 
way of fame and favor are open to all of you. 

I thank you more than I can find words to express 

18 



274 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

for this \Yiirm, generous, heartfelt welcome— not to me, 
not to the Chief Executive of the nation, hut to the nation 
itseK as embodying your love, your faith and purpose. 
{Enthusiastic and prolonged applause.] 



CLIX. 

Remarks at Aitkin, Minnesota, October 13, 1899. 

My Fellow- Citizens : 

I esteem it a very great honor to meet the people of 
the country whom by their suffrages I am permitted to 
serve. I count it of very great value to the public 
servant to meet with the people; for the people have 
but one public aim, and that is high and noble. What 
you all want, no matter what may be your party aline- 
ments— what you aU want for your country is the great- 
est good for the greatest number. I never meet the 
people face to face without gaining from them inspira- 
tion for duty. Your cheerf id faces, kind greetings, and 
generous words give me encouragement for the great 
responsibihties which you, two years and a half ago, 
placed upon me. I assure you that I have but one aim, 
and that is to serve you faithfully, and help to main- 
tain the honor and integrity of the government, which 
dispenses the blessings of our free institutions equally 
to all the people. [Great applause.] 



OP WILLIAM Mckinley. 275 



CLX. 

Speech at Brainerd, Minnesota, October 13, 1899. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

To this welcome from my fellow-citizens of Minnesota 
I cannot fittingly respond. 

Our government emanates from the people, whether 
it be the government of the nation, the State, the 
connty, the township, or the village. All power comes 
from the people, and all public officers must bear their 
commissions as administrators of their affairs. Back of 
the governments to which I have referred is the home, 
which is the ideal government after all, — the family, 
bound together by ties of common interest and affection, 
— the American home, the school-house for the educa- 
tion of American boys and girls in the duties of citizen- 
ship. And from this home, which lies at the foundation 
of our public institutions, the governments draw tlieir 
virtue and integrity. The education that comes from 
the home touches all our lives and stays with us as long 
as we live. There is not a man anywhere in our country 
who, remembering the affectionate counsels of his 
mother, has not been helped in resisting wrong and 
adhering to right. [Great applause.] It is that Ameri- 
can home, where love is found and virtue presides, that 
is the hope of our republic. 

And after that are the schools of the country. They 
educate men for citizenship and for statesmanship ; and 
this country is safe so long as we preserve the honor 
and integrity of the home and continue public education 



276 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

in nation and in State. It is from these homes and 
schools that the brave bovs went out from Minnesota in 
the Civil War [applause], and again in the Spanish War, 
responding with an alacrity unprecedented to the call 
of country to fight its battles and uphold its honor. 
One of the greatest pleasures of my life, my country- 
men, was yesterday to welcome in the city of Minne- 
apolis the Thirteenth Minnesota, that had been for many 
months in the Philippines carrying the standard of the 
Union, which they left there, without stain, in other 
hands. [Great applause.] 

Wherever the flag goes, there go education and ci\d- 
lization. [Enthusiastic applause.] 



CLXI. 

Remarks at Staples, Minnesota, October 13, 1899. 

Mij Fellow-Citizens : 

It has given me very great pleasure, in traveling through 
your State, to be welcomed, as I have been at every 
hand, by the warm hearts of your people, and to ob- 
serve your progress and prosperity, ^ou became a 
part of the Federal Union as a State in 1858, forty-one 
years ago. You have not only added to the wealth and 
progress and prosperity of the nation in peace, but you 
have contributed your share to bring honor and glory 
to the nation in war. You furnished your full quota 
in 1861, when you were but three years old as a State ; 
and when the Spanish War came, this State furnished 
more than its quota, sending to the front fifty-five hun- 
dred of the best young men from your homes and 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 277 

communities. Wherever they were, whether in the 
field during the Civil War, or in Luzon, they always 
upheld the flag. The Thirteenth Minnesota has come 
back to you, bringing added laurels to the State. 
The flag of our country that floats over the Philippines 
floats in honor for liberty and humanity and for the 
American name. [Great applause.] 



CLXII. 

Speech at Wadena, Minnesota, October 13, 1899, 

2X1/ FeUoH'-Citizens : 

The people of this country, differing from many 
countries in the world, are masterful in administration 
and legislation. They change policies and adminis- 
trations. They make and unmake Presidents and 
Congresses and legislatures; and nothing is ever per- 
manently settled, so far as the governmental policy is 
concerned, until it is settled in the consciences of the 
people and by their enlightened judgment. 

Mr. Lincoln was in the habit of saying that the safest 
tribunal on earth was the people; and at one of the 
most critical periods of our Civil War he uttered these 
great words : " If the Almighty Ruler of nations, with 
his eternal truth and justice, be on your side of the 
North, or on yours of the South, that truth and that 
justice will surely prevail by the judgment of this great 
tribunal of the American people." And so all poli- 
cies and all purposes of President or Congress must 
finally be submitted to the people, and their judgment, 
when constitutionally rendered, is the law of the land. 



278 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

It is therefore a great power that the people possess, and 
that power is used after the most careful investigation 
and consideration of great public questions, and has ever 
been for the right. 

We are in the Philippines. Our flag is there, and our 
flag is never raised anywhere for oppression. [Great 
applause.] It floats for liberty wherever it is raised. 
[Great applause.] And wherever it is assaulted in the 
hands of the men who wear the uniform of the United 
States, that moment the whole nation rises to its defense. 
[Enthusiastic and long-continued applause.] 



CLXIII. 

Reimarks at Detroit City, Minnesota, 
October 13, 1899. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

Of the many receptions we have had, as we have 
journeyed through your State and other States, none 
has been more hearty or more cheering or assuring 
than the welcome you give us here to-night. All these 
receptions have been public ones,— the people them- 
selves, the old, the young, the boys and the girls of the 
schools,— and I assure you that they have cheered my 
heart and given me strength for the great responsibil- 
ities resting upon me. [Great applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 279 

CLXIV. 
Speech at Fargo, North Dakota, October 13, 1899. 

Mr. Mai/or, Senator Hansbrough, Memlers of the First 
North BaJcota Volunteers, and my FeUow-Citizens : 

The last eighteen mouths have borne impressive tes- 
timony of the patriotism of the American people. The 
call for two hundred thousand troops was promptly 
responded to by the people of the United States, without 
respect to party, creed, section, or nationality. [Great 
applause. Cries of " Good ! "] The alacrity of enlist- 
ment and the celerity of execution have few if any paral- 
lels in the military annals of the world. [Applause.] 
We did not go to war until every effort at peace was 
exhausted, and when war came we all thought the sooner 
it was ended the better for all concerned. [Applause.] 

I have come here to-night, traveling a long distance, 
that I might meet the people of this new and growing 
State— a State which I had the honor, as a member of the 
national House of Representatives, to vote to admit as a 
sister into the national family. [Great applause. A 
voice, "You 're not ashamed of it, are you?"] On the 
contrary, I am proud of it [applause], and prouder than 
ever for the vote I gave for her admission. [Applause.] 
I come also to speak of the patriotism of the State 
of North Dakota; not only of the patriotism of the 
men who served in the Philippines, but of those brave 
soldiers of your State who, less fortunate than the 
Manila volunteers, were not able to have fighting 
service in the field. They did their duty, as you did 



280 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

yours ; and so, too, all the volunteers throughout the 
United States, all of them eager to go to the front and 
do battle with the enemy, like you who met the enemy, 
have won the lasting gratitude of the American people. 
[Great applause.] I have come especially that I might 
look into the faces of the North Dakota volunteers [con- 
tinued applause]— the two battalions who saw service 
on the battle-line in Luzon. I came that I might speak 
to them the welcome and the ''Well done." You did 
your duty and you filled my heart with joy [applause] 
when you, with the other volunteers and regulars of 
the Eighth Corps, sent me word as President that you 
would remain at the battle-front in Luzon until a new 
armj^ could be created to take your place. [Enthusiastic 
and prolonged applause.] You refused to beat retreat 
or strike your colors in the presence of the enemy [great 
applause], no matter who advised you to come home. 
You said, " We will stay and keep the flag stainless in 
the presence of the enemy." [Great applause.] And, 
my fellow-citizens, no soldier ever had a more delicate 
or trying duty. This army, of which this fragment 
from your State formed a part, remained in Luzon, 
waiting, first for the treaty of peace which was being 
negotiated in Paris, then for its ratification by the 
Senate of the United States, then until the exchange 
of ratifications between the United States and Spain— 
waiting through all that long period, accepting the in- 
solence of the insurgents with a patient dignity which 
characterized the American soldiers, who were under the 
orders of the Executive that they must not strike a blow, 
pending the treaty of peace, except in defense. [Great 
applause.] I say they bore these taunts with a patience 
sublime. We never dreamed that the little body of in- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 28 1 

surgents whom we had just emancipated from oppres- 
sion — we never for a moment believed that they would 
turn upon the flag that had sheltered them against Spain. 
[Great applause.] So our soldiers patiently bore, 
through the long months, the insults of that band of 
misguided men under the orders of an ambitious 
leader. Then the insurgent chief ordered an attack 
upon our line, and our boys made gallant defense. 
[Enthusiastic applause.] But I want to do them the 
credit to say, here in the presence of their neighbors 
and theii- friends, their fathers and their mothers, that 
they forbore aU things rather than disobey an order 
from the government they were serving. [Cries of 
" Good ! " and great applause.] 

The leader of the insurgent forces says to the Ameri- 
can government, "You can have peace if you will give 
us independence." Peace for independence, he says. 
He had another price than that for peace once before 
[laughter], but the United States pays no gold for peace. 
[Enthusiastic applause.] We never gave a bribe in all 
our history, and we will not now commence to do it. 
[Great applause.] Our flag is there. [Applause.] Sol- 
diers of North Dakota, you left it there in the hands of 
those who took your places, without blot and with honor. 
[Applause.] Wherever that standard is raised, whether 
in the western or in the eastern hemisphere, it stands 
for liberty, civilization, and humanity. [Long-continued 
applause.] 

But I have already talked too long. [General cry of 
" Go on ! "] This nation for nearly a century has not 
compromised liberty [a voice, "No, sir; and never 
will ! "] ; and Abraham Lincoln [applause] spoke in 1863 
the proclamation of liberty to aU men beneath our flag 



282 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

in the United States [applause] ; and at Appomattox 
Court-House Grant made that paperproclamation a living 
fact. [Applause.] Oui* flag stands for liberty wherever 
it floats ; and we propose to put sixty-five thousand 
men behind that flag in Luzon [applause], to maintain 
the authority of the United States and uphold the sov- 
ereignty of the republic in the interest of civilization 
and humanity. [Applause,] We accept the resj)onsi- 
bility of duty at whatever cost it imposes. [Long-con- 
tinued applause.] 

CLXV. 

Speech at Wahpeton, North Dakota, 
October 13, 1899. 

My Felhw-Gitizens : 

I have had great pleasure in passing through your 
State to-day— the first visit which I have ever made to 
this new commonwealth. It is one of the newest of the 
Federal Union. I have been impressed with the pa- 
triotism of your people, and also with the prosperity and 
the good feeling which we found on every hand. Ad- 
mitted as a State only ten years ago, you have made 
almost marvelous progress in population and develop- 
ment. Your population, I am sure, has doubled in the 
last ten years, while the products of your fields in a 
single year have mounted as high as thu'ty millions of 
dollars. These vast products have gone from your rich 
fields, and in turn there have come back thirty millions of 
dollars in gold, to enrich the producer and pay the wages 
of labor. I am glad to note that the voice of despair 
is no longer heard in North Dakota, and the prophet of 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 283 

evil no longer commands confidence, because lie has been 
proved to be a false prophet. Your mortgages are 
diminishing and your markets are increasing. The 
hum of industry gladdens the heart, and the hammer of 
the sheriff at public sales is less frequently heard in the 
home. We are a great country, and you are one of the 
great States of this great Union. 

It was my pleasure to-day to welcome back to your 
State, in behalf of the nation, the gallant boys of the 
First Dakota, who did such splendid service in Luzon. 
[Great applause.] Your city furnished one of the com- 
panies. They have made not only a splendid record for 
themselves, but they have added a new and glorious 
page to American history, and great honor to American 
arms. I doubt if there is a man, woman, or child in 
the State of North Dakota who is not proud of that 
regiment, and prouder still that they remained on the 
firing-line when there were many people who wanted 
them to come home. [Enthusiastic applause.] If there 
is anything in this world we like it is courage and 
heroism ; and if there is anything that an American 
boy will never do, it is to desert his colors when his 
country is in peril. [Great applause.] The truth about it 
is, the soldiers of the Spanish War are, for the most part, 
the sons of the veterans of the Civil War, and the pa- 
triotism, pluck, vim, and vigor shown by your boys in 
Luzon were only what we found in that Grand Army of 
the Republic from 1861 to 1865. [Applause.] 

I thank you, my fellow-citizens, for this greeting. It 
has been especially gratifying to me to meet the neigh- 
bors and friends and fellow-citizens of your United 
States Senator [Senator McCumber] at his home. 
[Long-continued applause.] 



284 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



CLXVI. 

Speech at Aberdeen, South Dakota, 
October 14, 1899. 

3fr. Mayor, Memhers of the First South Dakota Volunteers^ 
and my FeUow-Citisens : 

It gives me very great pleasure to join with your 
fellow-citizens of the State of South Dakota, your 
friends, your families and neighbors, in this welcome 
to your home. We are not a nation of hero-worshipers, 
and yet we are a nation of seventy-five millions of grate- 
ful people who love valor and reward the heroic deeds 
of our soldiers and sailors on land and sea. 

I think I appreciate quite as much as, if not more than, 
most of my fellow-citizens the value of the services this 
regiment, with its associates of the Eighth Corps, ren- 
dered the country in its hour of great emergency. [En- 
thusiastic applause.] And I am here to speak, not for 
myself alone, but for the American people, in expression 
of gratitude and thanks for your heroic action in the 
island of Luzon. [Applause.] This morning a despatch 
from your commander, the major-general commanding 
in the Philippines, through the Secretary of War, tells 
me of the gallantry of Colonel Frost and his First 
Regiment [great applause], tells me that from early in 
February until late in June they stood on the firing- 
line, and no enemy could withstand their resistless 
courage and gallantry [continued applause]. Nor do 
I forget, soldiers of the republic, soldiers of the First 
South Dakota, that when the treaty of peace was rati- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 285 

fied and the exchange of ratifications was completed 
with Spain, every one of you was entitled to be mustered 
out of the service of the United States. [Applause.] 
And I can never express to you the cheer you gave my 
heart when you sent word that you would remain until 
a new army could be formed to take your places. [En- 
thusiastic and long-continued applause.] The members 
of the First South Dakota and their comrades furnished 
an example of personal sacrifice and public consecration 
rarely known in the annals of history. [Applause.] 
But it is just like the American soldier, no matter where 
he comes from. He never lays down his arms in the 
presence of an enemy [great applause], and never falters, 
never lowers the flag of his country, nor leaves the field 
till victory comes [continued enthusiastic applause]. 

I am glad to see the veterans of 1861 welcome the 
veterans of 1898. [Applause.] It is the same kind of 
patriotism. You got it from your fathers ; and it is a 
patriotism that never deserts and never encourages 
desertion. [Applause.] 

But, my fellow-citizens and members of the First 
South Dakota, you have just got home, and I know you 
want to join those you love, and I shall not detain you 
a moment longer, except to say to you that I tliank you 
for your uncomplaining services to our beloved country ; 
I thank you for standing faithful and unfaltering on 
the battle-line; I thank you for preserving the flag 
stainless ; I thank you for waiting in the trenches 
until the relief came ; and I thank you for having 
transferred the banner of freedom to those who succeed 
you, spotless and with honor. [Great applause.] And 
where that flag is, it stands for libertj^, humanity, and 
civilization. [Long-continued applause.] 



286 SPEECHES AND ADDKESSES 



CLXVII. 

Speech at Redpield, South Dakota, 
October 14, 1899. 

My Fellow- Citizens : 

In all that relates to the government of the United 
States we have a common interest and a common pride. 
We are all deeply interested in the administration of 
the government, that it shall be honest and just and 
equal. We are interested in the progress and prosperity 
of the country and the well-being and advancement of 
the people. We have been greatly blessed as a govern- 
ment and a people. We are rich in all material things. 
Your own State is blessed with soil and mines of rare 
value. Your population is increasing, and in a single 
year you sent out your products valued at nearly one 
hundred millions of dollars. Your population is about 
four hundred thousand. You raise more than you con- 
sume. You send your surplus products from the field 
of production to the field of consumption, and there 
comes flowing back to you in return money for your 
labor and your investment. 

We are also interested in our public schools, in our 
colleges, and in our universities. This pioneer State 
has a great many colleges and universities. You have, 
I am told, a college here. The school-house goes with 
the pioneer. The family, then the school-house; and 
out of the school-house come those who finally become 
the citizens who are to carry forward this great work 
of government. 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 287 

Then we are interested in the honor of the country. 
The American name up to this hour has never had any 
taint put upon it, and I trust and beheve it never will 
have. [Great applause.] We have never lacked soldiers 
to defend any cause in which the country has been en- 
gaged, from the days of 1776 down to the present hour. 
[Great applause.] 

We have been adding some territory to the United 
States. The little folks will have to get a new geog- 
raphy. [Laughter and applause.] We have a good 
deal more territory in the United States than when we 
were boys, and we have acquired some within the last 
eighteen months. [Great applause.] We have not only 
been adding territory to the United States, but we have 
been adding character and prestige to the American 
name. [Continued applause.] We have planted our 
flag in Porto Rico, in Hawaii, and in the Philippines. 
We planted it there because we had a right to do so. ^ ^^ 

[Applause.] We had a war with Spain. Every effort 
for peace was used before war was finally declared by the 
Congress of the United States, but when war was de- 
clared there was but one thing for the American people 
to do, and that was to destroy the Spanish sea-power 
wherever we could find it [great applause] ; and so 
Dewey was sent to Manila [continued applause], and 
we told him to go there, commence operations, find the 
Spanish fleet, and capture or destroy it. [Great ap- 
plause.] He did it ! [Applause.] He found and he 
destroyed it, and when he had done that we had 
the responsibility of the Philippines, which we could 
not evade. And there has never been a moment of 
time, my countrymen, when we could have left Manila 
Bay or Manila harbor or the archipelago of the Philip 



288 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

pines without dishonor to our name. [Great applause.] 
We did not go there to conquer the Philippines, 
We went there to destroy the Spanish fleet, that we 
might end the war 5 but in the providence of God, 
who works in mysterious ways, this great archipelago 
was put into our lap, and the American people never 
shirk duty. And the flag now there is not the flag of 
tyranny— it is the flag of liberty [applause] ; and wher- 
ever the flag goes there go character, education, American 
intelligence, American civilization, and American liberty. 
[Great applause.] 

CLXVIII. 

Speech at Huron, South Dakota, 
October 14, 1899. 

3fy Fellow-Citizens : 

I bring my heartfelt salutation to this one of the 
younger sisters of our Federal Union. I may be par- 
doned if I express more than a common interest in your 
welfare and advancement. It was my good fortune to 
be a member of the national House of Representatives 
during all the years you were struggling for admission 
as a State ; and it was my very great privilege in 1889 
to give my vote to helj) make you one of the stars in 
our national constellation. [Great applause.] I can 
testify to the perseverance of this people to get into the 
Union. I not only bring salutations, but congratulations. 

You have made wonderful progress. You have been 
enjoying in the last twenty-four months an unexampled 
prosperity. Good crops and fair prices have lifted the 
mortgage and lowered the interest ; and while the in- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 289 

terest has been lowered to the borrower, the standard of 
the money loaned has not been lowered. [Great ap- 
plause.] You not only have rich material resources, 
but you have what every American pioneer population 
has— school-houses and chm-ches. They go with the 
pioneer wherever he goes, and the pioneer, made of the 
very best possible fiber, always takes the flag with him. 
[Great applause. A voice, " Keep the old flag where it 
is ! "] 

My fellow-citizens, I came here to make acknowledg- 
ment to the people of this State for their patriotism. 
When you were a Territory you furnished battalions of 
gallant soldiers to fight in the great war for the preser- 
vation of the Union [applause], and my comrades of 
the Grand Ai-my of the Republic are all about me here 
to-day. [Shout of " And we will stand by you ! "] And 
when the Spanish War came, the sons of these veterans 
and the sons of these settlers sprang to arms at once 
upon the call of country-, and one regiment of your 
troops served most gallantly and uncomplainingly in 
the island of Luzon. [Great applause.] I had the 
extreme pleasure of joining in South Dakota's welcome 
to these brave men at Aberdeen this morning, and I 
want to tell you that they look like athletes [a voice, 
" We sent them out as such ! "], and they came back as 
such, showing the generous care of the government of 
the United States. [Great applause.] It is given to 
the strong to bear the bm-dens of the weak; and our 
prayer should be, not that the burdens should be rolled 
away, but that God should give us strength to bear 
them. [Applause.] And the burdens which this war 
placed upon the American people unsought and unex- 
pected—for nobody in the United States dreamed eigh- 

19 



290 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

teen months ago that the Philippine archipelago would 
become territory of the United States— came not to us of 
our seeking, but as one of the inevitable and unescapable 
results of that war. When Dewey went into Manila 
Bay under orders and destroyed the Spanish fleet, from 
that hour we were responsible for the peace of the Phil- 
ippine Islands [enthusiastic and long-continued applause], 
and from that hour we could not escape with honor to our- 
selves, nor could we escape from our obligations to the 
nations of the world. [Applause.] And your boys stayed 
[applause], although there were some people who wanted 
them to come home. [Laughter and applause.] I am 
proud of them, and so are you. [General cry of " We 
are ! "] There is not a man, woman, or child in this 
glorious new State, there is not a family in your com- 
monwealth, who is not delighted that the soldiers of 
the First South Dakota refused to accept the advice of 
the unpatriotic and stayed and upheld the flag. [Great 
applause.] They did not come home until they had 
placed that flag stainless and spotless in the hands of 
the new army we sent; and we will send enough of 
them to carry that flag to ultimate victory. [Great and 
long-continued applause.] 



OLXIX. 

Speech at Lake Preston, South 
Dakota, October 14, 1899. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

Patriotism is an all-conquering sentiment in the 
American heart. It triumphs over mere politics, 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 291 

and the politics which has no patriotism in it is 
always defeated before the tribunal of the American 
people. If the patriot, for any good reason, does not 
go to war himself, he always supports the soldier who 
does, and shelters and cares for his family while the 
head of it is at the front. [Applause.] If, for any 
reason, a good citizen gets into the ranks of the enemy 
by an accident, he hves only to regret it, and his chil- 
dren live only to erase the blot from the family name. 
[Applause.] 

The patriotic people of this country are awaiting the 
return of Company E of the First South Dakota. 
[Great applause.] I saw the glorious boys myself 
to-day. [Continued applause.] I was proud of them, 
and you will be proud of them when they come to you 
to-night. [Great applause.] They did splendid service 
for their country. They unfalteringly sustained the 
flag and refused to come home [great applause]— re- 
fused to lay down their arms until the government they 
were serving could supply a new army in their places 
to lift up and carry forward that sacred banner. [En- 
thusiastic and long-continued applause.] 



CLXX. 

Speech at Madison, South Dakota, 
October 14, 1899. 

3fy Fellow- Citizens : 

I liave great pleasure in meeting the citizens of south- 
eastern Dakota, and I feel constrained to congratulate 
you upon the evidences of prosperity which I have wit- 



292 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

nessed as I have traveled through your State. I feel, 
too, like congratulating you upon the general prosper- 
ous condition of the country. Your government is 
doing well. There are no deficits in the Treasur3\ 
There is a good round balance of more than two hun- 
dred and fifty millions of gold in the Treasury belong- 
ing to the government ; and we are collecting one 
million six hundred thousand dollars every working- 
day of every month. Last year, when Congress voted 
that we should go to war, we borrowed two hundred 
millions of dollars. We offered the bonds to the 
people, and there were fourteen hundred million dollars 
subscribed when there were only two hundred millions 
needed. [G-reat applause.] Not only, my fellow-citi- 
zens, is the business of the government prosperous, but 
the enterprises of the people are also prosperous. Fear 
has given place to confidence. Consternation and 
despair have given place to faith and courage, the 
voice of calamity is no longer heard in the land, and 
the orator of distress and discontent is out of a job. 
[Great applause.] 

The people are employed and happy. They are proud 
of their institutions and of the love for country displayed 
in the last eighteen months. When the call for two hun- 
dred thousand troops was issued, more than a million 
and a half of men offered themselves, eager and read}'" 
to go to fight the battle for humanity and maintain the 
public honor. [Great applause.] And some of your 
boys are coming back here to-night. [Enthusiastic 
applause.] I feel like apologizing to the fathers and 
mothers for the privilege which I enjoyed of seeing them 
first. The proudest, the most cherished, the most glori- 
ous reflection they have is that they did not come 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 293 

home until their places had been supplied with new- 
troops. [Long-continued applause.] 



CLXXI. 

Speech at Egan, South Dakota, October 14, 1899. 

Ml/ Fellow-Citisens : 

We, as a people, never go to war because we love 
war. Our chief glory is not in the triumphs of arms, 
but in the triumphs of peace. We love peace; we 
abhor war. We have the smallest standing army of 
any large nation in the world. With a population of 
more than seventy-five millions, the regular army of the 
United States, on a peace footing, consists of twenty- 
eight thousand troops. On the national shield, which 
these boys and girls know all about, are to be found the 
olive-branch and the arrows, indicating our power in war 
and our love of peace ; but be it said, to the glory of the 
American nation, that we never have drawn the arrows 
from their quiver until we have tendered to our ad- 
versary the olive-branch of peace. [Great applause.] 
And we are at peace now with all the nations of the 
world. We have an insurrection in the Philippines, 
which, I trust, will be very promptly suppressed. [Great 
applause.] 

Your boys have done their duty in suppressing it 
[great applause], and I know you are impatient to bid 
them welcome to theu- families and then* homes. [Long- 
continued applause.] 



294 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



CLXXII. 

Speech at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 
October 14, 1899. 

My FeUoiv-Citizens : 

We very deeply regret that we were not able to reach 
this city at the time appointed. The reason of our de- 
tention is the fact that the First South Dakota Vol- 
unteers came in late at Aberdeen. It is the only time 
in the history of that regiment that it was ever late. 
[Great applause.] It was never behind time in any of the 
more than thirty engagements which it had in the island 
of Luzon. 

My fellow-citizens, when war is inaugurated it usually 
has a fixed and definite purpose. You can have a pur- 
pose at the beginning, but nobody can tell the end or 
scope. " Man proposes, but God disposes." The Civil 
War was waged for the purpose of saving the Union. 
There was no thought on the part of Mr. Lincoln or 
his Cabinet or of Congress what would be accomplished 
in its final result. Mr. Lincoln was in the habit of 
saying that he would save the Union with slavery or 
he would save it without slavery, he would save it half 
slave and half free, only so that he could save it, for he 
had an oath registered in heaven to preserve the Union. 
[Great applause.] He could not save it with slavery, 
and so he issued his immortal proclamation of liberty. 
That was not the purpose of Congress, for the Congress 
of 18G1 had voted by an almost unanimous vote that the 
war should cease when the Union was restored, with all 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 295 

the rights, dignities, and privileges of the old States 
undisturbed. 

So, my fellow-citizens, when the war with Spain com- 
menced, — commenced in the interest of humanity, com- 
menced to relieve the Cuban people of that oppression 
under which they had suffered for long years, — nobody 
at that moment had any thought either of Porto Rico or 
the Philippines. We went to war with Spain in the 
interest of humanity and civilization, and to give justice 
to the oppressed people of Cuba. When war was de- 
clared we put our ships in front of the harbors of Ha- 
vana and Santiago. We sent Dewey's ships from Hong- 
kong to Manila, directing him to destroy or capture the 
Spauish fleet in those waters, and he did it. [Enthusi- 
astic applause.] And our fleet in front of Santiago sunk 
the Spanish ships in that water. And when Dewey de- 
stroyed the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay he was master 
of the situation ; but he could not come awav without 
dishonor, if he had been disposed to do so, which he 
was not. [Great applause.] The responsibility for 
peace and good order and the protection of life and 
property came to the American people from that 
hour. When the treaty of peace, by which Spain ceded 
to us the entire archipelago was ratified by more than 
two thu-ds of the Senate of the United States, from that 
hour it became the territory of the United States. [Great 
applause.] And when it became our territory there was 
but one authority and but one sovereignty that could be 
recognized, and that was the United States. [Great ap- 
plause.] It became our duty to establish our authority. 
A portion of one tribe, representing the smallest frac- 
tion of the entire population of the islands, resisted 
American authority. The very men we had emauci- 



296 SPEECHES AND ADDKESSES 

pated from slavery and oppression were the first to 
make an attack upon the arm}^ of the United States ; 
and when they assaulted our flag in the hands of the 
soldiers of the United States, they assaulted the sover- 
eignty and the power of the government. [Great ap- 
plause.] And when that is assailed there is never any 
division among the American peojile. [Enthusiastic 
applause.] They are for the flag wherever it floats, 
and they stand behind the men who carry it on land or 
on sea. [Continued applause.] 

I received the other day a letter from a most distin- 
guished officer now engaged in active duty in the Philip- 
pines. It is dated Manila, August 29, 1899, and I want 
to read one or two extracts from it : 

I am confident that, if we should withdraw our army now, 
Aguinaldo could not hold himself in power without carrying on 
warfare against other tribes, and this would cause a constant war- 
fare and turmoil for years. Of course there would be looting of 
cities and seizing and destruction of property, and the business 
people and property-holders would apply to some strong govern- 
ment to restore order. For us to withdraw our army now would 
be criminal, and for such an action we would be arraigned and de- 
nounced by the civilized nations of the earth. 

I believe that when it is fully understood that our supremacy is 
to be maintained in these islands, there will be an influx of popula- 
tion from the United States and other countries. There is no 
question as to the richness of the soil and the abundance and 
richness of gold-, copper-, and coal-mines. 

It is true that heretofore tliey have not paid, but it is because 
they have not been properly managed. 

The receipts of this port from customs [it is the port of Manila] 
are averaging $600,000 per month. This, with the internal rev- 
enue, I believe, would in ordinary times pay the entire expenses 
of the government. 

An idea seems to be prevalent in the United States that this is 
an unhealthy country, and that white men cannot live here. This 



OF WILLL4M McKINLEY. 297 

is a great mistake. There is also an impression that to retain these 
islands would be a burden to our country. That these views are 
errors should be impressed upon the American people. 

You may ask, my feilow-citizeus, who is the author of 
this letter. I answer you that it is from a gallant sol- 
dier, a great cavalry leader of the Confederate army, one 
of the heroes of Santiago in our recent war, and for 
eighteen years a member of Congress from the State of 
Alabama— the gallant and intrepid Joe Wheeler. [En- 
thusiastic applause.] 

We intend to put do^vn that rebellion [great ap- 
plause], just as we would put down any rebellion 
anywhere against the sovereignty of the United States 
[continued applause]. Our flag is there. Your boys 
bore it, bore it heroicall37^, bore it nobly, and stayed with 
it when they could have been mustered out ; but they 
said, '^ We will stay until our places can be filled with 
new soldiers, and will never desert our colors." [Great 
applause.] 

I make public acknowledgment everywhere for this 
personal sacrifice and heroic action. That flag is there, 
not as the symbol of oppression, not as the flag of 
tyranny ; but it is there, as it is everywhere, the symbol 
of liberty, civilization, hope, and humanity. [Tremen- 
dous and long-continued applause.] 



298 ■ SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



CLXXIII. 

Speech at Yankton, South Dakota, 
October 14, 1899. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

I have very great pleasure in meeting my countrymen 
of South Dakota here at the old capital of the Territory 
of Dakota. A wave of patriotism has been moving 
throughout the country for the past two years, and the 
swell has struck South Dakota to-day. [Applause.] 
The soldiers from Manila are coming home. They are 
in your beloved State to-night. I met them this morn- 
ing at Aberdeen. They are coming back in health, as 
sturdy and splendid a body of 3^oung men as I ever 
looked upon. They are coming back not only with 
health, but with honor. They stood by the country we 
all love so much, and have earned the gratitude of the 
government they have served so well. [Great applause.] 
We cannot have too much patriotism in a country like 
ours, that rests upon the people and all the people alike ; 
and so long as we have with patriotism the virtue and 
vigilance of the citizen, so long will our free institutions 
be safe and secure. The American people can always 
be trusted. If in the passion of the hour they commit 
a mistake, they are prompt to correct it. The people 
choose the rulers— their legislatures of States and the 
Congress of the United States and the Chief Executive 
of the United States; and if, in an hour of unrest or 
discontent or dissatisfaction, they elect rulers or legis- 
lators or congressmen who do not serve the best pur- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 299 

pose of government, they are prompt to supersede them 
with agents who do. [Great applause.] 

The people, my fellow-citizens, always reserve to them- 
selves the right of appeal from themselves after more 
deliberate judgment, after more conscientious investi- 
gation ; they appeal from themselves to themselves, and 
not infrequently reverse former decisions. 

I am glad to meet the people of this new and prom- 
ising State. Every step of our journey, as we have 
passed through this commonwealth, has been one of 
warm and hearty and generous greeting from all the 
people [great applause] ; not from party, not from 
members of one creed or another, not from the native- 
born or the naturalized, but from all I have felt the 
touch of warm hearts and the glow of gracious greet- 
ings; and I stop only long enough to say how pro- 
foundly impressed I have been with your State— not 
with its material interests alone, not with its lands or 
its mines, but with the men and the women. I have 
looked into their faces, and have felt that there was a 
great future for this commonwealth in such hands, and 
for the whole nation. You are just like the other 
members of our great family, for you have come from 
all the States ; and those who have come from outside 
have brought their best conscience and best judgment 
to help us build up this country. 

One thing more, m}^ countrymen. Whatever else 
this war has done, there is a result for which we should 
all offer thanksgiving and praise— it has unified every 
section. [Great applause.] We now, almost for the 
first time in our history, know no North, no South, no 
East, no West, but are all for a common country. 
[Long-continued applause.] 



300 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 



CLXXIV. 

Eemarks at Vermilion, South Dakota, 
October 14, 1899. 

My Felloiv- Citizens : 

TMs is a very loyal and devoted people, that would 
remain up until this late hour of the night to give greet- 
ing to the Chief Executive of the nation. I do not 
misinterpret this welcome. I am sure it is not meant 
for me as an individual, but meant as your expression 
of devotion and affection for the government of the 
United States. I can only, in the moment, detain you 
long enough to say that we have a government that is 
worthy of our best love and affection, and if it does not 
continue to serve us and our highest and best interests, 
it will be our own fault, for our government is just 
what we make it. And I pray that the virtue of the 
citizen will be so high and his aims so noble that nothing 
ill can ever befall this republic, and nothing ever impair 
its usefulness and glory. [Great applause.] 



CLXXV. 

Remarks at Elk Point, South Dakota, 
October 14, 1899. 

My Felloiv- Citizens : 

Only a warm-hearted people, deeply interested in 
their government and attached to it, would have re- 
mained standing until midnight to give welcome to 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 301 

the President of the United States. I leave the State 
of South Dakota regretfully, for during all the day of 
my journey I have been met at every point with the 
same warm greeting which you have given me here 
to-night. I leave behind me only thanks and gratitude 
to all the people, and my best wishes for their prosper- 
ity in their vocations and for contentment and joy in 
all their homes. [Great applause.] 



CLXXVI. 

Remarks at the Whitfield Methodist Episcopal 
Sunday-School, Sioux City, Iowa, October 15, 1899. 

My Friends : 

I have only, in the moment I shall tarry, to say to 
this group of young people and older people, hail and 
farewell. I wish for all of them the realization of all 
that is noble in life and character under a government 
of high privilege and great opportunity. 



CLXXVII. 

Speech at Iowa Falls, Iowa, October 16, 1899. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

It is a great advantage to meet the people early in 
the morning. [Laughter.] It gives me genuine pleasure 
to meet and greet ray fellow-citizens of Iowa, to look into 
their faces, and to feel the stimulus of their presence, 
and the encouragement which I always receive as I 
mingle with them. 



302 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

Since I was last in the State we have added some new 
territory. It is no longer a question of expansion with us ; 
we have expanded. [Laughter and great applause.] If 
there is any question at all it is a question of contrac- 
tion ; and who is going to contract ? [Applause.] I 
believe, my fellow-citizens, that this territory came to 
us in the providence of God. We did not seek it. 
[Applause.] It is ours, with all the responsibilities 
that belong to it ; and as a great, strong, brave nation 
we mean to meet these responsibilities [applause], and we 
mean to carrv our education and our civilization there. 
I am not one of those who would take a laurel from the 
brow of the American soldier or a jewel from the crown 
of American achievement. [Great applause.] 

CLXXVIII. 

Speech at Ackley, Iowa, October IC, 1899. 

My Felloiv- Citizens : 

1 recall my former visit to this people, I believe, five 
years ago. I congratulate you all upon the improved 
condition of the country. When I was here last, we 
were in a condition of business depression. Times were 
hard. Fear had overcome courage. Now all is changed. 
We have general prosperity— good crops and fair prices, 
steady employment and good wages, and we have a 
happy and contented people. 

Not only are tlie people prosperous, but the nation 
itself is doing well. Our revenues are abundant. All 
over the country interest has fallen, mortgages have 
been lifted, and markets have been extended. We are 
using more of our own products than we ever did before. 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 303 

We are importing fewer products than we have done in 
many years, and we are sending more of American 
products abroad than we ever sent before. We are on 
agold basis, and we mean to stay there. [General cry 

of "Go'odP] "■ ^ 

I like the sentiment that spans your platform here : 
"Sustain the nation's flag." [Applause.] That is what 
we are doing in the Philippines to-day, and that is what 
we will continue to do until we conquer the rebellion 
against the sovereignty and authority of the United 
States. [Great applause.] We mean to sustain the 
boys in blue who are carrying that flag ; and whether in 
the Philippines or here in Iowa, it represents, not 
tyranny, but liberty and civilization, and stands for 
hope to mankind. [Cheers.] 



CLXXIX. 

Speech at Parkersburg, Iowa, October 16, 1899. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

It is a peculiar pleasure to me to pass through the 
district of my old friend Colonel Henderson, and it is 
a great honor that comes to this district that your rep- 
resentative is to be the Speaker of the national House 
of Representatives. 

The patriotism of the people for the last eighteen 
months has been sublime. When the call for troops 
was made, Iowa, like all the other States of the Union, 
responded promptly." More than a miUion soldiers 
were ready to do battle for the country under its caU 
for only two hundred thousand troops. Iowa furnished 



304 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

her full share, and one of her regiments did gallant 
service in the distant islands of the Pacific. It did not 
ask to come home, although it had the privilege of 
muster out after the ratifications of the treaty of peace 
had been exchanged. That regiment remained there, 
to uphold the flag and sustain the authority of the 
government, until a new army could be created to go 
and take its place; and I desire to make public ac- 
knowledgment here in this presence and in this State 
for its exhibition of devotion to the flag and loyalty 
to the country. [Great applause.] We all love that flag. 
It gladdens the hearts of the old and the young, and 
it shelters us all. Wherever it is raised on land or on 
sea, at home or in our distant possessions, it always 
stands for liberty, for civilization, for humanity ; and 
wherever it is assaulted, the whole nation rises up to 
defend it. [Long-continued applause.] 



CLXXX. 

Speech at Cedar Falls, Iowa, October 1G, 1899. 

My Felloiv-Citizens : 

This is a very great pleasure, to meet the people of 
Cedar Falls and the professors and students of your 
great institution of learning. 

We are a united people— united in interest, sentiment, 
purpose, and love of country as we have never been be- 
fore. Sectionalism has disappeared. Old prejudices 
are but a faded memory. The orator of hate, like the 
orator of despair, has no hearing in any section of oirr 
country. On ship and on shore the men of the South 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 305 

and the men of the North have been fighting for the 
same flag and shedding their blood together for the 
honor of the country and the integrity of its institu- 
tions. Lawton and AVlieeler in the Philippines are 
fighting side by side to-day. [Applause.] This is the 
Union we have now, and tlie North and the South are 
vying with each other in loyalty, and are marching side 
by side in the pathway of our destiny and the mission 
of liberty and humanity. 

The cause of humanity has been triumphant, and that 
cause committed to our hands will not suffer. Wher- 
ever we have raised our flag, we have raised it, not for 
conquest, not for territorial aggrandizement, not for 
national gain, but for civihzation and humanity. [Great 
applause.] And let those lower it who will ! [Enthusi- 
astic and long-continued applause.] 



CLXXXI. 

Speech at Waterloo, Iowa, October 16, 1899. 

My FeUow-Citkens : 

We have before us a great national problem. We 
have resting upon us a great national duty, growing 
out of our war with Spain. When that war com- 
menced there was little or no division of sentiment 
among the people. Before the declaration of war 
the Congress of the United States, under the leader- 
ship of youi- distinguished Senator Allison, voted a na- 
tional defense fund of fifty millions of dollars for the 
use of the government at its discretion. It was voted 

practically without division in either house of Congress. 
20 



306 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

The senator assures me that it was done with absohite 
unanimity. When the war was declared the resolution 
was voted for by all parties from all sections. The 
revenue bill was passed with provisions for money to 
carry on the war ; so that we started with all the peo- 
ple and all the representatives of the people standing 
together. 

The war came, and was ended sooner than any 
similar war in all history ; ended with the triumph of 
American arms ; ended in a triumph for the cause of 
humanity. [Applause.] Having been united in bringing 
on the war, having been united in its conduct, having 
been practically united in the conclusions of peace, the 
question is, Shall we stand together until the work is 
finished ? [General cry of " Yes ! " Great applause.] 

We have resting upon us the great responsibilities of 
government in Porto Rico and in the Philippines. Our 
flag has been assailed in those distant islands in the Pa- 
cific, and I ask the people of Iowa whether we shall not 
stand firmly and unitedly until American sovereignty 
shall be established in every island of the archipelago. 
[General cry of " Yes ! " Applause.] We will not take 
down that flag, representing liberty to the people, repre- 
senting civilization to those islands ; we will not with- 
draw it, because the territory over which it floats is ours 
by every tenet of international law and by the sacred 
sanction of a treaty made in accordance with the Con- 
stitution of the United States. [Applause.] We are not 
there to oppress. We are there to liberate. We are not 
there to establish an imperial government ; but we are 
there to establish a government of liberty under law, 
protection to life and property, and opportunity to all 
who dwell there. [Applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. sot 



CLXXXII. 

Speech at Independence, Iowa, October 16, 1899. 

2Iy Felloiv-Citizens : 

I thank your spokesman for his greeting in your 
behalf. Nothing but a deep interest in the country 
upon the part of the people would have assembled so 
many of you, on this inclement morning, to give welcome 
to the President of the country. And I do not mistake 
its meaning. It is not meant in compliment to me. It 
is in no sense personal, but it is expressive of your 
devotion to the country, your interest in its welfare, 
your anxiety that its honor shall be preserved every- 
where upon land and sea. The people are thinking 
about just one thing now in this country. The thoughts 
of the citizens of the United States have not for a third 
of a century been so centered upon the government and 
its future— tlieii- government— as at this very hour. They 
rallied to its support when it went to war. They stood 
by the government until the treaty of peace was made. 
That treaty of peace, ratified by the Senate of the United 
States, approved of by a vote of Congress, gave to the 
United States the sovereignty and territory of the Philip- 
pine Islands. [Great applause.] That territory, my fellow- 
citizens, the President has no power to alienate if he 
was disposed to do so, which he is not. [Great applause.] 
The sovereignty of the United States in the Philippines 
cannot be given away by a President. That sovereignty 
belongs to the people ; and so long as that territory is ours, 
and so long as our sovereignty is there by right,— not 



308 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

by right of conquest only, but by right of solemn treaty, 
—the President of the United States has but one duty 
to perform, and that is to maintain and establish the 
authority of the United States in those islands. [Great 
applavise. Cries of '^ Good ! "] He could not do less 
and perform his duty. And our prayers are not only 
going out to the boys in the trenches, but more men and 
more means and more sinews of war will follow the boys 
at the front. [Great applause.] 

And now, my fellow-citizens, having said this much, 
and only stopping long enough to thank the boys and 
the girls of the schools for the welcome which they have 
given me, carrying that glorious banner in their hands, 
which indicates that they have real affection for the flag 
in their hearts, I bid you all good morning. [Long- 
continued applause.] 



CLXXXIII. 

Speech at Manchester, Iowa, October 16, 1899. 

My FeUoiv-Citizens : 

We have had more than a hundred years of national 
existence. Those years have been blessed ones for 
liberty and civilization. No other jjeoples anywhere on 
the globe have enjoyed such marvelous prosperity and 
have made such gigantic progress as the people of the 
United States. When the fathers established this gov- 
ernment the population was only a little more than a 
million in excess of the population of Iowa to-day. They 
started with three million nine hundred thousand, and 
you have two million and a half of people in your State. 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 309 

Our lines have indeed fallen in pleasant places. The 
ship of state has sailed uninterruptedly on its mission of 
liberty ; and one thing that can be said of this nation, 
for which we should all give thanksgiving and praise, is 
that it never raised its arm against humanity, never 
struck a blow against liberty, never struck a blow except 
for civilization and mankind. [Applause.] And now that 
we are seventy-five millions of people I do not think we 
have lost our vigor, our virtue, our courage, our high 
purpose, or our patriotism. [Great applause.] We are 
just as strong for country as we ever were, and we are 
just as sensitive of national honor as our fathers were, 
and we are just as determined to keep unsullied the 
American name as those who created us a nation. 
[Great applause.] 

This, my countrymen, is not a partizan government. 
While parties control administrations, in the presence of 
a great national peril or great national duty the people 
are united as one man for country ; and the people's 
hearts to-day go out to the soldiers of the United States, 
who are doing battle for the country in the Philippines. 
[Applause.^ Your hearts, your hopes, your prayers are 
with them; and if I am not mistaken, the American 
people do not propose, whatever may be the cost, to see 
our flag dishonored anywhere. [Enthusiastic applause.] 



310 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

CLXXXIV. 

Speech at Dubuque, Iowa, October 16, 1899. 

My Felloiv- Citizen s : 

The welcome on the part of the citizens of this the 
second city of the State is cordially appreciated and will 
be long remembered and cherished. This is a year of 
sublime patriotism. From one end of your State to the 
other, in all the sections of the West through which we 
have traveled, we have heard but one music, that the 
music of the Union ; but one song, that the hymn of 
the republic. [Great applause.] And we have seen but 
one flag, the flag of our fathers and ours [applause] ; 
the flag of a happy, reunited, and never-to-be-severed 
nation [enthusiastic applause]— a flag that expresses our 
hopes, our purposes, and our faith ; a flag that expresses 
the sacrifices which w^e are willing to make for it and 
what it represents anywhere and everywhere when as- 
sailed. [Great ay^plause.] 

I have come to-day, my fellow-citizens, not only to 
greet you all, but to make public acknowledgment in 
this great city of the patriotism of the people of Iowa. 
[Applause.] You not only served and sacrificed for the 
Union in the great Civil War, giving up many of the 
best young men of the State on the altar of country 
that the Union might be preserved, but in the war with 
Spain this State, almost the first of the Federal 
Union, answered to the call of the government. [Ap- 
plause.] There was no halting and no hesitation; 
your full quota was filled immediately, and others were 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 311 

eager and anxious to enlist. All of your soldiers did 
not have service on the firing-line, but they did their 
whole duty. That they were not called to the field of 
active operations was because the war was too quickly 
closed. [Enthusiastic applause.] They were ready and 
anxious to go, and disappointed that they were not per- 
mitted to go. To them I want to say that, like the sol- 
diers at the front, they have won the gratitude of the 
republic ; for they did their whole duty, and that is all 
any soldier can do. [Great applause.] 

You were fortunate, my fellow-citizens, inasmuch as 
we had to have trouble in the Philippines, that you 
could send one regiment to that distant island. And I 
want to say of them that they did even more than their 
duty. Possibly I ought not to say that; but they did 
even more than was required by their terms of enlist- 
ment. They had the privilege of muster out when the 
ratifications of the treaty of peace were exchanged. 
That was the end of their term, if they had sought to 
claim the privilege, but when offered to them they re- 
fused to accept it. [Great applause.] They said : " We 
will stay with the government. We will stay with the 
flag until you can make a new army to take our places." 
And they did it. [Enthusiastic applause.] All honor 
to the Iowa regiment in the Philippines, now with their 
faces turned homeward ! [Applause.] God grant them 
a safe arrival in their old State, among their own friends 
and families, at their own homes ! [Applause.] 

I never travel through this mighty West, a part of the 
Louisiana Purchase, — Iowa, part of Minnesota, and the 
Dakotas, — that I do not feel like ofi'ering my gratitude 
to Thomas Jefferson for his wisdom and foresight in 
acquiring this vast territory, to be peopled by men and 



312 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

women such as I have seen here and elsewhere in these 
four States. [Great applause.] You have carried civili- 
zation and education ; you have built churches ; you have 
made this the garden spot of the country ; and you have 
added new strength and honor to the nation. 

And now, my fellow-citizens, having said this much, 
and with only a moment to tarry, I want simply to say 
one other thing, and that is that our flag in the Philip- 
pines still waves there [enthusiastic applause], and it 
waves not as the banner of imperialism, it waves not as 
the symbol of oppression, but it waves as it waves here 
and everywhere, the flag of freedom, of hope, of home 
of civilization. [Loud and prolonged applause.] 



CLXXXV. 

Speech at Galena, Illinois, October 16, 1899. 

My Fellow- Citizens : 

I recall with pleasure my former visit to this city, 
when some years ago I came to speak at the dedication 
of the monument to that great soldier and lover of 
peace. General Ulysses S. Grant. He has set us an ex- 
ample both in war and in peace. In war unconditional 
surrender was his requirement; and after the war his 
constant and most fervent prayer was for the unifica- 
tion of the States and the peace of his country. 

We are having some trouble over in the Philippines, 
and, remembering Grant's requirement of unconditional 
surrender, hostilities will cease when those who com- 
menced the war upon our flag shall cease to fire at our 
troops and acknowledge American authority. [En- 
thusiastic applause.] 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 313 

On his second proposition there has been complete 
and perfect reconciliation between the sections. There 
is no North and no South, except as mere geographic 
divisions. They no longer suggest the long bloody war 
through which the country passed. All sections are 
united, and passion, hate, and prejudice have totally 
disappeared; and we thank God for it. [Applause.] 
We are now a united country, and we are united for the 
right ; we are united for liberty ; we are united for civili- 
zation ; we are united for humanity. And being thus 
united, we are invincible. [Great applause.] 



CLXXXVL 

Speech at Ipswich, Wisconsin, October 16, 1899. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

It is a very great pleasure to meet you and to be 
presented by your distinguished representative in Con- 
gress [Representative Cooper]. 

Our nation is one of great benevolence and of great 
blessings. We not only care for the great interests of 
the government in our foreign relations, but we spend 
millions upon public education ; millions more are spent 
by the people for churches ; still more millions are spent 
by the States for the care of the unfortunate of our popu- 
lation. The orphans' homes, the industrial homes, the 
homes for the aged, the homes for disabled veterans who 
have served their country, all attest the benevolence of 
the American nation and the American people. Not 
only are we a nation of benevolence, but we are a nation 
that is helpful to our people— helpful to all the people. 



314 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

Every boy and girl can have a good education— one 
that will equip them for every duty and occupation of 
life. Not only are they thus educated by the State and 
the nation, but when once educated they have open to 
them, and to every one of them, the highest opportuni- 
ties for advancement. They are not prevented because 
they are poor from aspiring to the highest places in the 
gift of the government. We have no classes. No 
matter what their creed, their party, no matter what may 
be their condition, no matter about their race or their 
nationality, they all have an equal opportunity to secm'e 
private and public positions of honor and profit. 

My fellow-citizens, a government like ours is worth 
preserving in all its vigor and its integrity. And as I 
look into your faces, and as I think of our American 
homes and American schools, I feel that our sacred in- 
stitutions are safe in their keeping. TGreat applause.] 



CLXXXVII. 

Speech at Dodgbville, Wisconsin, 
October 16, 1899. 

Mij Fellow-Citizens : 

We have everything to be thankful for. Our credit 
as a nation never was better, while the credit of the 
individual citizen has improved. Our money never was 
more abundant ; every dollar of it is as good as gold in 
every market-place of the world. [Applause.] Our 
bonds at three per cent, interest could easily have been 
sold at a premium when they were offered to the people, 
but the law prohibited it. But no sooner had they 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 315 

passed into the possession of the people than they at 
once advanced in price. There is no fear of the ability 
of the government to meet every one of its obligations. 
The greenbacks no longer seek the Treasury to drain it 
of gold. The people want the greenbacks and prefer 
them to gold. The endless chain has been broken, and 
endless confidence in the government has set in. [Ap- 
plause.] 

Not only is this country strong and rich and pros- 
perous in its material things, but it is mighty in its 
intelligence, virtue, and patriotism. [Applause.] We 
have fought a war since I last met you— a war, not for 
territory, not for gain, not for glory, but for humanity. 
[Great applause.] And the war was stopped sooner 
than anybody expected it would be. We sunk the 
enemy's ships at Manila, and we sunk their ships at 
Santiago ; and we took the surrender of all their troops 
in the West Indies, and subsequently of all their troops 
in the Philippines. [Applause.] And the islands are 
ours ! [Enthusiastic applause. A voice, " We want to 
keep them, Mr. President !"] The voice of the people in 
this country is the law of the land. [Great applause.] 
Our flag is in the Philippines, and our brave boys are 
carrying it in honor, and the government of the United 
States will stand behind them. [Long-continued ap- 
plause.] 



316 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



CLXXXVIII. 

Speech at Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, 
October 16, 1899. 

My Felloic-Citizens : 

It gives me very great pleasure to meet the people of 
this community, and to be presented by one of your 
neighbors and fellow-citizens, your representative in 
Congress [Representative Dahle]. 

I congratulate you all upon the condition of the 
country as a whole and upon the prosperous condition 
of the people. Hard times have given place to good 
times. We are enjoying an era of debt-paying rather 
than debt-making. We are not only prosperous in our 
domestic manufactures and our domestic trade, but we 
are extremely fortunate in our foreign trade. I note by 
the newspapers this morning that in the month of Sep- 
tember of this year— last month only— we sent abroad 
twenty million dollars' worth of our products more than 
we sent in September, 1898 ; so that we are not only 
manufacturing more in this country and producing 
more than we ever did, but we are finding a larger and 
wider market. We send more of our goods abroad and 
buy less abroad than formerly, and the balance of trade 
is therefore in our favor, and comes to us in gold. 

Not only, my fellow-citizens, have we been fortunate 
in our business affairs, but we have been alike fortunate 
in the war that has been concluded. No nation was ever 
more happy than ours that it was quickly disposed of. 
The fleet of Dewey in Manila and the American fleet in 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 317 



Santiago soon destroyed all of the Spanish sea-power, 
and when that was done the victory was won. And 
through all that war, my countrymen, we had the high- 
est exhibitions of humanity. Our fallen foes were 
tenderly cared for. We observed the highest honor in 
all our dealings with the Spanish people ; and as a result 
of that war grave responsibilities were put upon us. 
We did not seek them. We went only that we might 
relieve the Cuban people of an oppression under which 
they had been suffering for years— our neighbors, close 
to us, almost on our very borders. We went to war 
that we might give them relief, and as a result we have 
Porto Rico and the Philippines. They have come to 
us in the providence of God, and we must carry the 
burden, whatever it may be, in the interest of civiliza- 
tion, humanity, and liberty. [Cxreat applause.! 



CLXXXIX. 

Speech at Madison, Wisconsin, October 16, 1899. 

My Fellow-GlUzens : 

I have the most pleasant memories of my former 
visits to your beautiful capital city. On those occa- 
sions we were engaged in the discussion of great eco- 
nomic questions affecting the interests of the country. 
The voice of partizanship is hushed to-day, and the 
voice of patriotism is alone heard in the land. [Great 
applause.] We know neither party nor creed nor sect 
nor nationality in our devotion to a common country 
and a common flag. We are all one in the presence of 
a great national duty, and there are no divisions among 



318 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

US whenever our flag is assailed, wherever and by 
whomsoever. [Enthusiastic applause.] 

We have gone through a war, the celerity of which 
and the results of which are scarcely recorded of any 
other war in history. The American arms triumphed on 
land and on sea, with unprecedented exemption from 
disease and death on the part of our soldiers and sailors. 
We are proud of the army and the navy. They have 
brought us great responsibilities ; they have brought us 
new acquisitions and new territory ; and it is for us to 
accept those responsibilities, meet them with manly 
courage, respond in a manly fashion to manly duty, and 
do what in the sight of God and man is just and right. 
[Great applause.] 

One tribe, and a small fraction of that tribe, is ques- 
tioning the sovereignty of the United States in the island 
of Luzon. The very people we emancipated from op- 
pression assailed our flag and shot our soldiers. The 
shedding of blood is anguish to my soul. The giving 
up of the lives of our bravest and best young men 
wrings my heart. The shedding of the blood of the 
misguided Filipinos is a matter of sorrow to all of 
us. And yet they are resisting the sovereignty of 
the United States over a territory which we acquired, 
not by conquest alone, but by the solemn treaty of 
peace sanctioned by the Congress of the United States. 
When our authority is undisputed in every part of that 
archipelago hostilities will stop. May that time soon 
come ! [Enthusiastic cheering.] 

It is said we could have peace if we would give them 
independence and a government of their own under their 
own sovereignty. It is said that if the President would 
do this we would have peace. The President has no 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 3 19 

power, even if lie was disposed, which, he is not [great 
applause], to alienate a single foot of territory which we 
have honestly acquired, or give up sovereignty over it 
to any other peoples. [Cheers.] That power belongs 
to the people. It is vested in Congress, which repre- 
sents the people, and no such power was ever given to 
the Chief Executive by the people, by Congress, or by 
the Constitution, and to use it would be a base usur- 
pation of prerogative by the Chief Executive of the 
government. And then, if we were going to cede the 
islands away, to whom would we cede them ? There is 
no government there but ours. The great majority of 
the people acknowledge allegiance to our flag, and are 
glad to have the shelter of its protection. 

My fellow-citizens, the Philippines came to us not of 
our seeking: none of us ever di-eamed, when this war 
commenced, that we were to have either Porto Rico or 
the Philippine Islands. We went to war for civilization 
and for humanity, to relieve our oppressed neighbors in 
Cuba. I was one of those who held back until the last 
moment, hoping that war might be averted. I did not 
want to involve my country in bloodshed. [Great ap- 
plause.] But the war came, and a few of those who 
wanted it most are now trying to shirk its responsibili- 
ties. [Enthusiastic and continued applause.] Man 
plans, but God Almighty executes. We cannot avoid 
our responsibility. There was no fault in the victory ; 
there must be no halting in upholding it. We have the 
Philippines, and our flag is there. 

This subject of expansion is not a new one. It was 
the gospel of the early statesmen and patriots of this 
country. It found substantial reahzation in the mag- 
nificent achievement of that illustrious statesman, 



320 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

Thomas Jefferson. It was the dream of Marcy. In 1853 
he sought to acquire the Hawaiian Islands. It was the 
dream of Seward; it was the dream of Douglas. Let 
me read you what Stephen A. Douglas said in 1858— 
forty-one years ago : 

It is idle to tell me or you that we have land enough. Our 
fathers supposed that we had enough when our territory extended 
to the Mississippi River, but a few years' growth and expansion 
satisfied them that we needed more, and the Louisiana Territory, 
from the west branch of the Mississippi to the British possessions, 
was acquired. Then we acquired Oregon, then California and 
New Mexico. We have enough now for the present. But this is 
a young and growing nation. It swarms as often as a hive of 
bees, and as new swarms are turned out each year there must be 
hives in which they can gather and make their honey. In less 
than fifteen years, with the same progress, this coimtry will be occu- 
pied. Will you not continue to increase at the end of fifteen years as 
well as now ? I tell you, increase and multiply and expand is the law 
of this nation's existence. You cannot limit this great republic by 
mere boundary-lines, saying, " Thus far shalt thou go, and no 
farther." Any one of you gentlemen might as well say to a son twelve 
years old that he is big enough and must not grow any larger, . . . 
With our natural increase, growing with a rapidity unknown to any 
other part of the globe, with the tide of immigration that is fleeing 
fi'om despotism in the Old World to seek refuge in our own, there is 
a constant toi'rent pouring into this country that requires more 
land, more territory upon which to settle ; and just as fast as our 
interests and our destiny require additional territory in the north, 
or in the south, or on the islands of the ocean, I am for it. 

I have been more than glad to meet the young men 
of the State university. [Applause. J Only a few years 
more and upon them and upon the other young men of 
the country will rest the responsibility of government. 
I bid them and all the boys of the land, while they have 
an opportunity, to equip themselves for this great trust, 
that they may be able to carry on the government un- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 321 



impaired in vigor, virtue, liberty, and conscience. [En- 
thusiastic and long-continued applause.] 



cxc. 

Speech at Waukesha, Wisconsin, 
October 16, 1899. 

My Fellow-Oitizens : 

As I return homeward from the great West, it gives 
me much pleasure to stop in your city. My journey 
has been one of increasing interest. Everywhere we 
have gone, whether in the town or the city or the 
village or by the farmside, we have been welcomed 
by the same joyous hearts and with the same warm 
words with which you receive us here to-night. [Ap- 
plause.] I go back stronger for the great duties and 
responsibilities which the people three years ago placed 
upon me, and with unfaltering faith in the wisdom and 
the patriotism and the virtue and the power of the 
American people. [Great applause.] 

The school-children about us are being prepared every 
day, not only in the home, but in the school, for the re- 
sponsibilities which in time will rest upon them, to carry 
forward this great structure of government. In their 
hands and in yours liberty is safe, not only within the 
United States, but in every part of the territory of the 
United States over which our flag floats. [Long-con- 
tinued applause.] 



21 



322 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 



CXCI. 

Speech at the Deutscher Club, Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin, October 16, 1899. 

3Iy Felloiv- Citizens : 

I thank the people of the city of Milwaukee, and all the 
people present, for their magnificent welcome here to- 
night. I have every assurance that it comes from your 
warm hearts, not to me as an individual, but as expres- 
sive of your love of country [great applause] and your 
devotion to our free institutions [continued applause], 
which give the highest rewards to human energy and 
the widest opportunities for human development. [Con- 
tinued applause.] 

Nothing can befall this republic so long as the people 
of the United States exhibit that loyalty and patriotism 
which have characterized them from 1776 down to the 
present year. [Applause.] This republic rests not upon 
force, not upon the strength of our armies or our navies, 
but upon the masterful power of the American people. 
[Great applause.] And I do not mistake the temper 
of the people when I say that wherever that starry 
banner of the free is raised it stands for liberty and 
humanity [continued applause] ; and whoever assails it 
and wherever it is assailed, the assailants will be met 
with the strong, mighty arm of the government of the 
United States. [Enthusiastic applause, long continued.] 

I thank you one and all for this hearty reception, and 
wish for you the highest realization of all that is noble 
in life, in character, and in home. [Long-continued 
applause] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 323 



CXCII. 

Speech at the Banquet of the Merchants and 
Manufacturers' Association, Milwaukee, Wiscon- 
sin, October 16, 1899. 

Mr. Toastmaster and Gentlemen : 

I am profoundly grateful to the Merchants and Manu- 
factui'ers' Association of the city of Milwaukee for this 
more than hospitable welcome. I am glad to meet with 
the representative business men of this enterprising city, 
whose commercial integrity and business honor stand, 
and have stood, unsullied amidst the shock and peril of 
financial disaster, and stand to-night unchallenged in 
the business world. [Applause.] 

I rejoice at your progress and prosperity. Your prod- 
ucts last year, amounting to one hundred and forty- 
two million dollars, were carried on every sea and to 
most of the ports of the world. May we not hope, with 
our expanding markets and our increasing export trade, 
at no very distant future to rehabilitate our merchant 
marine and send our ships of commerce into every ocean, 
carrying American products under the shelter of the 
American flag ? [Applause.] 

In the acquisition of wealth the people of Milwaukee 
have not forgotten the aids and refinements of civiliza- 
tion. I passed to-night that noble monument to learn- 
ing and education, your public library and museum. 
[Applause.] At the public reception, with the thousands 
that passed by me there was one small boy, not above 
fourteen years of age, poorly clad, but with bright eyes 
and a manly face, carrying a book under his arm that he 



324 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

liad drawn from that public library. [Applause.] This 
aid, with others which the nation and the State are fur- 
nishing, will equip the young men of the country to take 
the trust and responsibilities of public affairs after we 
shall have laid them down. 

This State has every reason to be proud not only of 
its educational progress and its industrial triumphs, but 
of its patriotism. [Applause.] In the great Civil War you 
furnished tens of thousands of brave men, who went 
forth to give their lives, if need be, for the preservation 
of the Union. No service was too great, no demand of 
country too severe for the soldiers of the Civil War. And 
in the recent war with Spain you did your full part, and 
fm*nished your full quota with a promptness and alac- 
rity equal to that of any other State of the Union. 
[Great applause.] Milwaukee has every reason to be 
proud of the men she has furnished as soldiers and sailors : 
General King [applause], faithful to his country in the 
Philippines ; and that other gallant and intrepid soldier 
who has added new laurels to American arms in the per- 
son of General MacArthur. [Great applause.] Born in 
your city, he has brought honor to the place of his birth. 
And then in that other branch of the public service, the 
navy, you furnished the executive officer of the Oregon 
[applause], the ship that traveled fourteen thousand 
miles around the world, and when it reached our shore, 
wired to Washington that it was ready for duty and 
needed no repairs [great applause] ; and Captain Cot- 
ton, who came from this city [applause], commanded 
that auxiliary to the navy known as the Harvard, and 
did valiant service in the West Indies. 

We are all proud of our country. The toast you have 
given me is " The President of the United States." It 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 325 

is not proper at a banquet to speak to your toast. 
[Laughter.] Some people appear to be disturbed about 
the President's policy. [Laughter and applause.] The 
President has no policy against the will of the people. 
[Enthusiastic applause.] The best policy in this world 
for man or nation is duty. [Applause.] Where that 
calls we should follow. We should not halt. We should 
not hesitate. Responsibility born of duty cannot be 
evaded with honor. We are in the Philippines. Our 
flag is there. The first requirement, the indispensable 
requirement, is peace. [Enthusiastic applause, long con- 
tinued.] No terms until the undisputed authority of 
the United States shall be acknowledged throughout 
the archipelago ! After that Congress will make a gov- 
ernment under the sovereignty of the United States. 
[Cries of " Good ! " Applause.] In no other way, gentle- 
men, can we give peace to the national conscience or peace 
to the world. [Long-continued applause.l 



CXCIII. 

Remarks at the Iron Foundries, Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin, October 17, 1899. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

As I have been journeying through the country I have 
been welcomed with a warm cordiality by my fellow-citi- 
zens, but at no place have I had a reception that has 
given me more genuine pleasure, more real satisfaction, 
than the greetings of the working-men of this great estab- 
lishment and the other great establishments of this city 
about the buildings in which they toil. [Great applause.] 



326 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

I congratulate you all upon the prosperity of the 
country. The employer is looking for the laborer and 
not the laborer for the employer, and I am glad to note, 
from one end of the country to the other, a universal de- 
mand for labor. 

I thank you more than I can find words to express, and 
wishing you all good things, I bid you good-by. [En- 
thusiastic applause.] 



CXCIV. 

Speech at Racine, Wisconsin, October 17, 1899. 

3Iy Felloiv-Citizens : 

If I were not moved by the welcome of this great 
assemblage of my countrymen I would be indifferent 
indeed to all human sensibilities. I am glad to stand in 
this city of diversified industries and busy toilers and 
look into the faces of the people who have made your 
city what it is. 

This is a nation of high privilege and great op- 
portunity. We have the free school, the open Bible, 
freedom of religious worship and conviction. We have 
the broadest opportunity for advancement, with every 
door open. The humblest among you may aspire to 
the highest place in public favor and confidence. As a 
result of our free institutions the great body of the men 
who control public affairs in State and nation, who con- 
trol the great business enterprises of the countrj^, the 
railroads and other industries, came from the humble 
American home and from the ranks of the plain people 
of the United States. [Applause.] 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 327 

I have no sympathy with that sentiment which would 
divide my countrymen into classes. I have no sym- 
pathy with that sentiment which would put the rich man 
on the one side and the poor man on the other,— labor 
on one side and capital on the other [applause],— because 
all of them are equal before the law, all of them have 
equal power in the conduct of the government. Every 
man's vote in the United States is the equal of every 
other's on that supreme day when we choose rulers and 
Congresses and governors and legislatures. [Applause.] 

Our citizens may accumulate great wealth, and many 
of them do ; but they cannot take it with them, nor can 
they entail it from generation to generation. He who 
inherits must keep it by his own prudence or sagacity. 
If he does not, it is divided up among his fellows. 

My fellow-citizens, I am here only to speak a word of 
thanks and of gratitude for this welcome. Our country 
is more prosperous to-day than it has ever been before. 
It is more patriotic at this hour than at any other hour 
in aU its history. Om* thoughts, our prayers go to the 
brave men in the distant islands of the sea who are 
upholding the flag in honor. [Great applause.] And 
while they are doing that we will uphold them. 
[Cries of " Good ! " Applause.] All hostilities will 
cease in the Philippines when those who commenced 
them stop [aj^plause] ; and they will not cease until our 
flag, representing liberty, humanity, and civilization, 
shall float triumphantly in every island of the archi- 
pelago under the acknowledged sovereignty of the repub- 
lic of the United States. [Long-continued applause.] 



328 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 



cxcv. 

Reiharks at Kenosha, Wisconsin, October 17, 1899. 

My Fellow- Citizens : 

I very much value the great receptions which have 
been accorded to the members of my official family and 
myself as we have journeyed through our vast country. 
I never meet a great concourse of people like the one 
which stands before me, representative as it is of Ameri- 
can life and character, carrying the flag of our country 
borne by the veterans of the Civil War and by the newer 
soldiers of the Spanish War, and the children, and all the 
people having love of country in their hearts, that I do 
not feel that the free institutions which were so wisely 
established by the fathers will be forever safe in the 
hands of the American people. 

This is a busy hive of industry, where every man 
can find work and wages, where all the people are 
contented and happy and prosperous, and where all 
of them love the flag and would have it maintained 
in honor. [Great applause.] The patriotism of the 
country was never higher than at this moment ; and 
there is just one thing in the mind of every true Amer- 
ican to-day, and that is that our flag, which has been as- 
sailed in the Philippines, shall triumph, and those who 
assail it shall fail of their purpose. [Enthusiastic cheer- 
ing.] And hostilities in that distant island of Luzon 
will cease whenever all the people recognize the authority 
and sovereignty of the United States. [Long-continued 
applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 329 

CXCVI. 

Speech at Waukegan, Illinois, October 17, 1899. 

Mr. Mayor, tny Felloiv- Citizens : 

I thank you for the words of welcome spoken in 
your behalf by the mayor of this enterprising city. I 
am always glad to meet the people whom it is my 
privilege and honor for the time to serve. I am 
glad to confess in any presence that I never meet my 
countrymen in public assembly that I am not assisted in 
the great responsibilities which, by their suffrages, I am 
carrying, and that I am not strengthened by such com- 
mingling with them. The counsels of the people in a 
government like ours are always noble and useful. The 
will of the people is the law of the land ; and I am glad 
to know not only what my countrymen are thinking 
about, but to be advised by them always of what they 
think is right and what is best in administration and 
government. For, after all, the great body of the people 
have a single interest, that of having their government 
wisely, faithfully, and honestly administered. They 
have little care for mere individuals, except as the in- 
dividual may serve them best, and best represent the 
principles which are dear to them in governmental policy. 

Above all else you want your government administered 
with integrity and for the equal benefit of all. [Ap- 
plause.] You want it to be, not the representative of one 
class of people, or still another class of people, but of 
all the people, and to embody in it the best aims and the 
noblest aspirations of all. 



330 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

And SO I shall go back to the great duties of my 
office cheered bj^ your encouraging words, strengthened 
by your happy faces, in wliich I read devotion to coun- 
try and an increasing love for our free institutions. 
[Applause.] I shall go back feeling that I carry with me 
the purposes which are in your hearts; and if I can 
carry those purposes into i)ublic administration, then I 
will have achieved the highest mission of a public servant. 
[Applause.] 

I think I know, I am sure I know, what is uppermost 
in every mind here to-day. You are thinking of your 
country ; not of its interests here at home, for with them 
you are fairly satisfied and feel that they are secure. 
You are thinking of the vast interests of the govern- 
ment in the new possessions which have come to us by 
the fortunes of war. Your hearts go out to the brave 
men in the distant islands of the Pacific, where they are 
maintaining the sovereignty of the United States over a 
territory ceded to us by Spain by treaty, which has the 
solemn sanction not only of the ratifying power of 
the Senate, but of the Congress of the United States. 
[Great applause.] 

I cannot, my fellow-citizens, misread your purpose and 
your conception of public duty. I am endeavoring, as 
I am bound to do by the Constitution of the United 
States, to execute the laws in every foot of territory 
that belongs to us. [Applause.] Rebellion has been 
raised against your authority in a territory that is as 
much our own as Alaska or the District of Columbia or 
any territory of the United States [applause] ; and that 
rebellion will be put down [enthusiastic applause], and 
the authority of the United States will be made suj)reme. 
[General cry of " Good ! " Great applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 331 

Some people say the President is carrying on an 
unholy war in the Philippines— an unholy war to uphold 
the holy banner of the free which these childi'en carry in 
their hands, and which represents the sovereignty of the 
republic ! [Great applause.] The people of the United 
States never had an appeal made to duty which was in 
vain. [Long-continued applause.] 



CXCVII. 

Speech at Evanston, Illinois, October 17, 1899. 

Mp Felloiv-CHizens : 

The welcome of the people of this city of culture and 
of homes is most gratifying to me. I am glad to meet 
all the people and the students of the great university 
located here. I have the honor to be an alumnus of 
that institution, and it is a great distinction to be on its 
roll. [Applause.] 

There will be much in the future resting upon the 
young men of the country— the educated young men ; 
and, fortunately, under our institutions every boy has 
an opportunity to get a liberal education to fit him 
for every occupation and calling of life. The responsi- 
bilities which rest upon this nation at this time are 
grave, but our duty is plain and unmistakable, and we 
must follow its commands and meet these responsibilities 
with courage and wisdom. 

The authority of i;he United States is assailed in one 
of the islands of the Pacific. That authority will be es- 
tablished in those islands. [Great applause.] The boys 
who carry our flag in that distant sea will be sustained 



332 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

by the American people. [Great applause.] It is the flag 
of oiir faith and our purpose ; it is the flag of our love. 
It represents the conscience of the country, and carries 
with it, wherever it goes, education, civilization, and 
liberty. [Enthusiastic applause.] And let those lower 
it who will ! [Cries of " Never ! "] Peace first, then 
government afterward, giving the largest liberty possi- 
ble and the largest participation in government of 
which the inhabitants are capable. [Long-continued 
applause.] 

CXCVIII. 

Remarks at Michigan City, Indiana, 
October 17, 1899. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

This is an unexpected, but, I assure you, a most ap- 
preciated greeting from my fellow-citizens of Indiana. 
I am glad to see the school-children here, waving the 
flag of their country, the flag they love so much, the 
flag that means so much to all of us. I am glad to see 
the working-men assembled here to-day, and to know 
that in every part of our country they have employment 
and wages, which bring comfort and hope and happi- 
ness to their homes. [Great applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 33^ 



CXCIX. 

Remarks at Three Oaks, Michigan, 
October 17, 1899. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

We have had very many beautiful receptions in our 
long journey through the great Northwest, but I assure 
you we have had none more unique than the one you 
have given us here in Three Oaks. I am glad to observe 
the patriotic purpose of this people to preserve in mem- 
ory for all who may come after the lesson of the great 
achievements of the American navy. It has been given 
to few navies of the world to win such signal and 
memorable triumphs, accomplished, too, without any 
loss of life. And the triumph which Dewey achieved at 
Manila, and which gave us the Philippine Islands as our 
territory and possession, accepted by the Congress of 
the United States, will be upheld by the American peo- 
ple. [Great applause.] And our flag that floats there, 
not as the symbol of enslavement, but of emancipa- 
tion, representing, as it does, the authority of the gov- 
ernment of the United States, will be supported to 
victory by all our people. [Enthusiastic applause.] 



334 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



cc. 

Remarks at Niles, Michigan, October 17, 1899. 

My Fellotv-Citizens : 

The name you bear is a very familiar one to me. It 
is the name of the town in which I was born in Ohio. 
[Great applause.] So that associated with it are some 
of the sweetest and pleasantest memories of my boy- 
hood days. 

I am glad to feel, from the presence of this large 
assembly at this time of the evening, the assurance that 
you are here because of your devotion to your country. 
[Great applause.] In your welcome to the Chief Execu- 
tive of the nation you express your love and loyalty to the 
government over which, by your suffrages, he presides. 

It gives me pleasure, also, to look into the faces of the 
constituents of my friend, your representative in Con- 
gress, Mr. Hamilton. [Great applause.] 



CCI. 

Reiviarks at Battle Creek, Michigan, 
October 17, 1899. 

My Fellow-Citizens : 

No human voice could reach the limits of this great 
throng of my assembled countrymen. This welcome 
which you accord to me to-night was wholly unexpected, 
but I assure you it gives me unbounded pleasure. I re- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 335 

call with the pleasantest memories a former visit I made 
to this city several years ago. Then you gave me warm 
greeting. To-night's so far surpasses it that I am deeply 
touched, and am not able to make suitable acknowledg- 
ment. 

On the occasion of my last visit I was discussing 
before you certain great economic questions. Those 
questions, for the time at least, have been settled, and I 
think happily settled. I stop to-night only to utter in a 
single sentence the gratitude of my heart for the splendid 
patriotism of the American people in the past eighteen 
months. [Applause.] Michigan was not only great in 
her devotion to her country in the Civil War, but when 
the war with Spain came she was quick to respond to 
the call of country, and her regiments were ready to do 
and die for the honor of the government and for the 
rehef of the people of Cuba from the oppression under 
which they had suffered for so many years. I make 
public acknowledgment here, as I do elsewhere, for this 
almost unprecedented demonstration in favor of coun- 
try. Michigan stood with us in the war until peace 
came. Michigan will stand with us until the rebellion is 
suppressed in Luzon and the flag of the nation floats in 
triumph where it is now raised in the cause of humanity. 
[Enthusiastic applause. 1 

CCIL 

Speech at Jackson, Michigan, October 17, 1899. 

Mr. Mayor and my Fellow-Citizens : 

I have very great regard as well as sympathy for the 
patience you have exercised in the long wait you have 



336 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

had to give us greeting. I thauk you most heartily 
for this expression of your kindly feeling and good will. 
It is gratifying to note, not only here, but everywhere 
throughout the country, the increasing interest of the 
people in public affairs. The vigilance of the citizen is 
the safety of the republic. So long as the people exer- 
cise a high degree of care and interest for the govern- 
ment, so long will the repubhc be safe. There would 
seem to be no danger from indifference at the present 
hour. I think there never was a time when there was 
so much thought and interest in public affairs as now. 
Every citizen is deeply concerned for the welfare of his 
country. He is fairly weU satisfied with conditions at 
home. He is satisfied with the condition of the Trea- 
sury. He is satisfied with the condition of business and 
the universal prosperity which everywhere prevails. 
His thought is not so much at home as it is in the new 
possessions which have been added to American territory 
through the valor of American arms and by the treaty 
of peace. The thoughts of the country are now in the 
Philippines. They follow the brave men, the soldiers 
and sailors of the United States, who are upholding the 
cause of our country in those distant islands of the sea. 
We all want peace, not only here, but there. We want 
the sovereignty and authority of the United States 
recognized in that territory as fully as it is recognized 
in every other territory belonging to the American 
government. [Applause.] The American people regret 
that those whom they emancipated, the very people 
whom they relieved from oppression, should have 
turned upon the soldiers of the United States, fouUy 
assaulted them, and resisted our sovereignty. 

But having done it, there is nothing left for the gov- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 337 

emment of the United States to do but to establish, at 
whatever cost may be required, its unquestioned au- 
thority in those ceded islands. [Applause.] And as the 
boys at the front are carrying the flag, the hearts of 
the people follow them, and the government will stand 
behind them until that flag is carried to a triumphant 
peace. [Great applause.] 



CCIII. 

Remaeks at the Hollenden, Cleveland, Ohio, 
October 18, 1899. 

Mij Fellow-Citizens : 

Many friends have greeted us in the past two weeks 
as we have traveled through the country. Our wel- 
come has been warm and generous and heartfelt, and 
it is especially pleasant to come back to the early friends, 
the friends of a lifetime, whose heart-throbs I have felt for 
more than a quarter of a century, and whose unfaltering 
fidehty to the cause which, for the moment, I represented, 
and to the country which I have been trying to serve, 
has never been interrupted. [Applause.] And whether 
they are new friends or old, whether they are in the far 
Northwest or in the great center of our country, all of 
them are devoted to our free institutions and to the 
honor and integrity of the flag. [Applause.] I think I 
have never seen such a demonstration of patriotism, 
such an exhibition of public consecration, as I have 
witnessed in the last two weeks. The grave and serious 
problems which rest upon us account for this unusual 

interest on the part of the people in public affairs. The 
22 



338 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

problems are grave ; the responsibilities are great. No- 
body feels them more than I do. And yet, my countrymen, 
our duty is plain, straightforward, unmistS-kable, to stand 
by the national honor and protect the territory we got by 
solemn treaty. [Enthusiastic applause.] Our soldiers 
carrying our flag in Luzon will be supported by the peo- 
ple of the United States [continued applause], and hos- 
tilities will stop in that distant island of the sea when the 
men who assaulted our flag and our soldiers shall lay down 
their arms. [Cries of " Good ! " Applause.] Peace will 
come, and I trust and believe will come shortly, and we 
will be able to give to the people in the Philippines a 
government of liberty and law, a government which will 
encourage their best aspirations and their noblest aims, 
a government under the sovereignty of the United 
States. [Great applause.! 



CCIV. 

Speech at Warren, Ohio, October 18, 1899. 

iify Fellow-Citizens : 

With unfeigned pleasure I come back, after many 
years of absence, to meet my fellow-citizens of the 
county of my birth and boyhood. I need not assure 
you that this presence awakens many tender and sacred 
memories. In my boyhood days I recall with vivid 
recollections the elder business men of the city of 
Warren; I recall the old and distinguished lawyers, 
the merchants, as well as many of the leading farmers 
of this vicinity •, and to-day I see but few of them before 
me in this audience. But their sons have taken up the 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 339 

work which was inaugurated by their intelligence and 
industry, and you now have one of the most thriving 
and prosperous cities of the Western Reserve. 

From this center went forth some of the best citizenship 
of the country, and from here radiated throughout this 
entire State— indeed, through the nation— the senti- 
ment of liberty, devotion to country, and love of the flag. 
Great men were produced on this Western Reserve, and 
their influence has been felt in every village and ham- 
let of the land. The people of the Western Reserve 
have always adhered to principle. They were never 
side-tracked by mere policy. Whatever in their minds 
and consciences was right, that they did ; and they always 
pursued the path of duty, which they believed was the 
path of right. 

We have now before us some problems quite as serious 
as any that have ever confronted the republic. No ap- 
peal can be made to this constituency in vain. We are 
in the Philippines. We have acquired that territory, 
not by conquest alone, but by solemn treaty and with 
the sanction of the Senate and the national House of 
Representatives. That territory is ours just as much 
as any part of the great public domain. [Great ap- 
plause.] It came to us not of our own seeking. We 
did not go out after it. We did not send Dewey to 
Manila to conquer those islands. We sent him to 
Manila when we were at war with Spain, to destroy the 
sea-power of the government against which we were 
fighting. [Great applause.] Dewey found its ships in 
the harbor of Manila and obeyed the orders of his gov- 
ernment to capture or destroy them. [Continued ap- 
plause.] When that was done there was a duty put upon 
the government of the United States by the act of 



340 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

Dewey's fleet— a duty to protect life and property and 
preserve the peace within his jurisdiction. [Applause.] 
There is a rebellion in one of the islands now, but it will 
be put down as we put down all rebellions against the 
sovereignty of the United States. [Enthusiastic and 
long-continued applause.] Our flag is there— rightfully 
there ; as rightfully there as the flag that floats above 
me is here ; and it is there, not as the flag of tyranny or 
as the symbol of slavery, but it is there for what it is 
here and for what it is everywhere [applause] — justice 
and liberty and right and civilization. And wherever 
the American nation plants that flag, there go with it 
the hearts and consciences and humane purposes of the 
American people. [Long-continued applause.] 



GOV. 

Remarks at Niles, Ohio, October 18, 1899, 

My Fellow- Citizens : 

I fear I will not be able to make myself heard by this 
great audience. It is to me a matter of extreme pleasure 
to be able, after so many years of absence, to come back to 
the old town in which I was born [great applause] ; and 
I need not tell you that many very cherished memories 
crowd my mind as I stand in this presence. The old 
frame school-house and the church have disappeared, 
and in their places splendid structures have been built. 

This town has had its ups and its downs. I am glad 
to know that it is enjoying the upward rise at this time, 
and that prosperity is in your shops and factories, and 
happiness and contentment in your homes. 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 341 

I know, my fellow-citizens, that you will be certain of 
the high appreciation I feel to have the school-children 
of my native town here in such vast numbers waving 
the flag we love. [Great applause.] We never loved 
that flag as we love it to-day. There never were so 
many people devoted to it, willing to sacrifice life for it, 
as there are in the United States to-day. And wher- 
ever that flag is raised by the soldiers of the United 
States, it represents just what it represents here— the 
highest privileges, the broadest opportunities, and the 
widest liberty to the people beneath it. [Enthusiastic 
applause.] 

CCVI. 

Speech at Youngstown, Ohio, October 18, 1899. 

Mij Felloiv-CiUzens : 

This seems to me very much like old times, and recalls 
many scenes of former days. I do not conceal in this 
presence the very high pleasure I have in meeting once 
more in this city, so dear to me, my former constituents 
and my old friends of the Eighteenth Ohio District. I 
was a boy in the county. I served you in the Con- 
gress of the United States ; I served you as governor 
of our beloved State ; and while holding these several 
ofiices was always greeted by you with generous and 
heartfelt welcome. And I can but make public ac- 
knowledgment here that in all my public and political 
life, covering now a period of nearly twenty-five years, 
I have ever enjoyed the support and encouragement of 
these good people who have assembled about me this 
evening. Nor can I fail to congratulate this community, 



342 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

devoted as it is to industry and manufacture, upon the 
improved condition of the country in the last two years 
and a half. Nothing in this whole journey of mine, of 
more than five thousand miles into the great North- 
west and through the Central and Western States, has 
given me more genuine pleasure than the welcome I 
have had from Cleveland to Youngstown by the work- 
ing-men employed in the mills and factories along the 
line. No cheer has been more encouraging or more 
helpful to me than the cheer given by the men as 
they came out of the mills and waved their shining 
dinner-buckets, now full when once they were empty. 
[Applause.] I felicitate with you, for no man could have 
had a deeper interest in the welfare of this city than 
myself. I rejoice with you upon the wonderful growth 
and development of this Mahoning valley, and upon the 
marvelous advancement of your city in population and 
in industry. 

I have met with you many times in the years gone by, 
in public discussion touching questions that affected the 
interest and well-being of this community ; I have been 
here when wild passions moved the community; but 
I never made an appeal to the judgment of the men 
of this city and county that was made in vain. [Ap- 
plause.] 

We have now before us some grave problems in gov- 
ernment — problems that demand, not only from the 
President, but from all the people, steady and sober 
judgment; problems not to be settled by one party or 
another, but by all the people; problems wider than 
party or section ; problems that are national, and which 
this people must settle, and settle for right and justice, 
following the plain path of duty. 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 343 

We are in the Philippines. Our flag is there; our 
boys in bkie are there. They are not there for conquest : 
they are not there for dominion. They are there be- 
cause, in the providence of God, who moves mysteriously, 
that great archipelago has been placed in the hands of the 
American people. [Great applause.] When Dewey sank 
the ships at Manila, as he was ordered to do, it was not 
to capture the Philij^pines. It was to destroy the Span- 
ish fleet, the fleet of the nation against which we were 
waging war ; and we thought that the soonest way to end 
that war was to destroy the power of Spain to make war, 
and so we sent Dewey. [Applause.] And the islands 
came to us. It was no responsibility we sought, but it 
was a responsibility put upon us. Will the American 
people shirk it ? [Cries of " No ! "] Have the American 
people ever been known to run away from a high moral 
duty ? [Repeated cries of '' No ! "] Our flag is there, 
not as the symbol of oppression, not as the token of ty- 
ranny, not as the emblem of enslavement, but represent- 
ing there, as it does here, liberty, humanity, and civiliza- 
tion. [Great applause.] 

There was no cloud in Dewey's victory, and there will 
be no doubt or hesitation in preserving it. But, my fel- 
low-citizens, I have talked longer than I intended to. 
[Cries of " Go on ! "] I only appeared to make my ac- 
knowledgment for this welcome from old constituents 
and old neighbors. I owe you much. I owe you more 
than I can ever return to you for your unfaltering sup- 
port and the early encouragement you gave me as a 
struggling young man in this county. [Enthusiastic 
and long-continued applause.] 



344 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



CCVII. 

Speech at Public Reception in Youngstown, 
Ohio, October 18, 1899. 

My FeUoiv-Citkens : 

My understanding was that the evening was not to 
be given over to speech-making, but that I was to have 
the privilege of shaking hands, so far as I was able, with 
my fellow-citizens who might assemble here. The very 
great number, however, who have honored me here would 
seem to make it impossible to proceed with a reception 
and to meet all of you, and so, in answer to your call, I 
appear only that I may say that I appreciate, more than 
I am able to express, the very heartfelt greeting that the 
people of Youngstown have accorded me on the occa- 
sion of this visit. 

I have traveled a long distance thi-oughout the coun- 
try, meeting the people at every station through eight 
or ten States in great assemblages like the one that is 
before me to-night ; and everywhere I have gone there 
has been the same manifestation of kindly feeling one 
toward another, of general good will, and of lofty 
patriotism. 

The country everywhere is prosperous. The idle 
mills of three years ago have been opened, the fires 
have been rebuilt, and heart and hope have entered 
the homes of the people. For that I feel like ex- 
tending to all of you sincere and hearty congratu- 
lations. The government of the United States, your 
government, the great machinery of administration, is 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 345 

going on well. We are collecting, every working-day of 
every month, sixteen hundred thousand dollars, which 
sum goes into the public Treasury to pay the current 
expenses of the government and the extraordinary ex- 
penses occasioned by the war. One million of that six- 
teen hundred thousand comes from internal revenue, 
largely upon spirits and tobacco, and the other six hun- 
dred thousand comes from a tariff, which you know all 
about here, put upon foreign products that come into the 
United States for consumption. I do not think that 
any of you feel very seriously either form of taxation. 
None of you seem to be suffering because of that large 
sum daily flowing into the public Treasury. While that 
sum is going into the Treasury, wages are going into 
the pockets of labor and profits are rewarding capital. 

Not only are our financial affairs in good condition, — 
for we have two hundred and fifty-six million dollars in 
gold now in the Treasury belonging to the government,— 
but we are at peace with every nation of the world. We 
are on friendly relations with every power of earth. 
Never were there more good feeling and good fellowship 
existing between the United States and other nations of 
the world than to-day. 

We are having some trouble, it is true, in the Philip- 
pines. That we could not help. The Philippines are 
ours. The men whom we emancipated from slavery, 
the men to whom we brought liberty, a fraction of a 
single tribe in a single island of the great archipelago, 
assailed the flag and the soldiers of the United States 
carrying it on that island ; and nothing is left for us to 
do but put down the rebellion [great applause], and 
that we propose to do [renewed applause]. I hope 
it will not last long. And, as I said, that territory 



346 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

is ours. It is ours just as fully as any foot of terri- 
tory in tlie United States. There is no flaw in our 
title. Openly made was the treaty of peace, openly 
ratified by the Senate of the United States, openly and 
publicly confirmed by the House of Representatives; 
and those islands stand to-day the territory of the 
Union, and as long as they are our territor}^ the sover- 
eignty of the United States must be supreme. [Great 
applause.] 

Thanking you, my fellow-citizens, for your attendance 
in such vast numbers here to-night, and expressing to 
you, as I have already expressed to the great audience 
on the public square, my deep appreciation of the greet- 
ing received, I will close. I can never forget our old 
relations. I can never forget your support of me in 
the years that have gone by. [Applause.] When I was 
your representative in Congress, my whole aim, my whole 
purpose, my whole time, were devoted to the welfare of 
my constituents and the prosperity of my country. [Ap- 
plause.] And if I have done anything in the course of 
my public life that gives me satisfaction to-night, it is 
that possibly in some small way I have helped to add 
one additional day's labor for the American working- 
man. [Applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 347 



CCVIII. 

Response to the Cojeniittee Presentestg a Peace 
Petition Urging the Friendly Services of the 
United States in Mediation between Great 
Britain and the Boers, Executive Mansion, Oc- 
tober 26, 1899. 

Gentlemen : 

It gives me pleasure to receive you, bearing, as you 
do, the expression of the sentiment of peace and good 
will throughout the world, in which I concur. I am 
glad to meet you, and shall give due consideration to 
the views of a body of men so eminent in character and 
ability, voicing the sentiment of the petition which you 
have presented to me, and of the mass-meeting held in 
New York, October 11. 

We all regret the outbreak of hostilities in South 
Africa. The bloodshed and the suffering on both sides 
affect us profoundly, and the protection of American 
interests involved demands the special concern of the 
government. The situation imposes upon us the neces- 
sity of a reserve both in our words and in our actions, 
lest we should unwittingly do injustice to either party 
in the controversy, or do violence to our traditional 
policy of impartiality. 

I thank you for this visit, and beg to say that what 
you set forth shall have my earnest and serious con- 
sideration. 



348 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 



CCIX. 

Remarks at Fredericksburg, Virginia, 
October 31, 1899. 

My Felloiv-Citizetis : 

It gives me very great pleasure to meet my fellow- 
citizens of Fredericksburg, and your welcome is all the 
more appreciated because upon such an inclement morn- 
ing so many of the people have assembled here. I am 
sure you will not expect me to do more than to make 
this simple acknowledgment of your courtesy and kind- 
ness. [Applause.] 



ccx. 

Remarks at Ashland, Virginia, October 31, 1899. 

3£y Felloiv- Citizens : 

The welcome extended to me by the governor of Vir- 
ginia on behalf of all of its people has very greatly 
touched me. It gives me peculiar pleasure to come into 
this State. 

Over one of the chapels of the city of London is the 
motto, "Think and thank." When we think of our 
national blessings, when we think of our wonderful 
progress and prosperity, when we think of the glorious 
unification of all the people of our forty-five States and 
of our Territories, we are most thankful to a kind 
Providence that has cast our lines in such pleasant 



OF wiLLL^M Mckinley. 349 

places and given to us such a glorious heritage. If 
we counted our mercies, our thanks for them would be 
countless. [Great cheering and applause.] 



CCXI. 

Remarks at Railroad Station, Richmond, Virginia, 

October 31, 1899. 

3Ir Mat/or and my Fellow-Citizens : 

I only appear for a moment to give heartfelt response 
to the hospitable welcome awarded me by the people 
of the city of Richmond through its honored chief 
executive. Your mayor has kindly alluded to the good 
feeling which everywhere prevails, and I can only, 
in replying, say that if in the slightest degree I have 
contributed to the unification of the country, it is the 
proudest honor of my life. [Applause and cheers. J 

This afternoon I am to speak for a few minutes, and 
so, only thanking you, Mr. Mayor and my fellow-citizens, 
for this welcome, I bid you all good morning. [Great 
and continued applause.] 



CCXII. 

Speech at Richmond, Virginia, October 31, 1899. 

Mr. Mayo7% Ladies and Gentlemen : 

I am glad to meet my fellow-citizens of Richmond, 
and to join with them in this interesting celebration in 
honor of the launching of the torpedo-boat Shuh'iclc, 



350 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

built in this city, of American material, by the labor of 
American working-men, for the use of the American 
navy. [Great applause.] I congratulate the builders and 
workmen upon the evidence of their skill and industry, 
so creditable to the manufacturing company and so 
highly commended by the officers of the government. 

This is not the first contribution which Richmond has 
made to our splendid navy. She equipped the war-ship 
Texas with all her machinery, boilers, and engines, which 
were tried and tested with eminent satisfaction in the 
brilliant naval engagement in the harbor of Santiago 
[great applause], when that gallant vessel so gloriously 
assisted in the destruction of Cervera's fleet, winning a 
memorable victory and hastening an honorable and 
enduring peace. 

I heartily rejoice with the people of this great city 
upon its industrial revival and upon the notable pros- 
perity it is feeling in all of its business enterprises. You 
are taking advantage of the commercial opportunities of 
the hour. You are advancing in manufactures, extend- 
ing your markets, and receiving a deserved share of the 
world's trade. [Applause.] 

What can be more gratifying to us than present 
conditions f A universal love of country and a noble 
national spirit animate all the people. We are on the 
best of terms with each other, and on most cordial re- 
lations with every power on earth. We have ample 
revenues with which to conduct the government. No 
deficit menaces our credit. Money is abundant in 
volume and unquestioned in value. Confidence in the 
present and faith in the future are firm and strong, and 
should not be shaken or unsettled. The people are 
doing business on business principles, and should be let 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 351 

alone— encouraged rather than hindered in their efforts 
to increase the trade of the country and find new and 
profitable markets for their products. [Great applause.] 

Manufacturing was never so active and so universally 
enjoyed throughout all the States. Work was never so 
abundant. The transportation companies were never so 
taxed to handle the freight offered by the people for 
distribution. The home and foreign markets contribute 
to our prosperity. Happily the latter have increased 
without any diminution of the former. Your locomo- 
tives go to Russia ; the watch-cases from my little city of 
Canton to Geneva; the bridges of Philadelphia span 
the Nile, and the products of the American farm and 
factory are carried upon every sea and find welcome in 
most of the ports of the world. [Applause.] 

In what respect would we change these happy condi- 
tions with the promises they give of the future ? The 
business activity in every part of the country ; the better 
rewards to labor ; the wider markets for the yield of the 
soil and the shop ; the increase of our ship-building, not 
only for our government, but for purposes of commerce ; 
the enormous increase of our export trade in manufac- 
tures and agriculture ; the greater comforts of the home 
and the happiness of the people ; the wonderful uplifting 
of the business conditions of Virginia and the South and 
of the whole country, mark this not only an era of good 
will, but an era of good times. [Applause.] 

It is a great pleasure to me to stand in this historic 
capital and to look into the faces of my countrymen here 
assembled, and to feel and know that we are all Ameri- 
cans, standing as one for the government we love and 
mean to uphold, united for the honor of the American 
name and for the faithful fulfilment of every obligation 



352 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

which national duty requires. [Great applause.] I could 
not forget in this presence to make my acknowledgment 
to the men of Virginia for their hearty and patriotic 
support of the government in the war with Spain, and 
for their continued and unflinching loyalty in the sup- 
pression of the insurrection in Luzon against the author- 
ity of the United States. They came in swift response 
to the call of country,— the best blood of the State, the 
sons of noble sires,— asking for service at the battle- 
front where the fighting was the hardest and the danger 
the greatest. The rolls of the Virginia volunteers con- 
tain the names of the bravest and best, some of them the 
descendants of the most illustrious Virginians. They 
have shed their blood for the flag of their faith, and are 
now defending it with their lives in the distant islands 
of the sea. [Great applause.] All honor to the American 
army and navj' ! [Continued applause.] All honor has 
been shown the men returning from the field of hostili- 
ties, and all honor attends those who have gone to take 
their places. 

My fellow-citizens, two great historical events, sepa- 
rated by a period of eighty-four years, affecting the life 
of the republic, and of awful import to mankind, took 
place on the soil of Virginia. Both were participated in 
by Virginians, and both marked mighty epochs in the 
history of the nation. The one was at Yorktown in 
1781, when Cornwallis surrendered to Washington, 
which was the beginning of the end of the war with 
Great Britain and the dawning of independence and 
union. The great Virginian, sage and patriot, illustrious 
commander and wise statesman, installed the republic in 
the family of nations. It has withstood every shock in 
war or peace from without or within, experiencing its 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 353 

gravest crisis in the Civil War. The other, at Appo- 
mattox, was the conclusion of that crisis and the be- 
ginning of a unification now happily full and complete, 
resting in the good will and fraternal affection one 
toward another of all the people. [Great applause.] 
Washington's terms of peace with Cornwallis secured 
the ultimate union of the colonies, those of Grant with 
Lee the perpetual union of the States. Both events 
were mighty gains for the human family, and a | 
proud record for a nation of freemen. Both were 
triumphs in which we all have a share, both are a J 
common heritage. The one made the nation possible, 
the other made the nation imperishable. Now no ^, . 
jarring note mars the harmony of the Union. The 
seed of discord has no sower and no soil upon which to 
live. The purveyor of hate, if there be one left, is with- 
out a follower. The voice which would kindle the flame 
of passion and prejudice is rarely heard and no longer 
heeded in any part of our beloved country. [Prolonged 
applause.] 

Lord of the Universe, 
Shield us and guide us, 
Trusting thee always 
Through shadow and sun. 
Thou hast xmited us, 
Who shall divide us? 
Keep us, oh, keep us 
The "Many in One." 

Associated with this great commonwealth are many 
of the most sacred ties of our national life. From here 
came forth many of our greatest statesmen and heroes 
who gave vigor and virtue and glory to the republic. 
For thirty-seven of the sixty-one years from 1789 to 
1850, sons of Virginia occupied the presidential office 



354 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

with rare fidelity and distinction— a period covering more 
than one fourth of our national existence. Wliat State, 
what nation can have a greater heritage than such 
names as Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and 
Marshall? Their deeds inspii'e the old and the young. 
They are written in our histories. They are a part of 
the education of every child of the land. They enrich 
the school-books of the country. They are cherished in 
every American home, and will be so long as liberty 
lasts and the Union endures. [Applause.] 

My countrymen, the sacred principles proclaimed in 
Philadelphia in 1776, advanced to glorious triumph at 
Yorktown, made effective in the formation of the Federal 
Union in 1787, sustained by the heroism of all our people 
in every foreign conflict, sealed in solemn covenant at 
Appomattox Court-House, sanctified by the blood of the 
men of the South and of the North at Manila and Santiago 
and in Porto Rico, have lost none of their force and 
virtue ; and the people of the United States will meet 
their new duties and responsibilities with unfailing de- 
votion to those principles, and with unfaltering purpose 
to uphold and advance them. [Enthusiastic applause.] 

Standing near the close of the century, we can look 
backward with congratulation and pride, and forward 
into the new century with confidence and courage. The 
memories of the past impel us to nobler effort and higher 
endeavor. It is for us to guard the sacred trust trans- 
mitted by the fathers and pass on to those who follow 
this government of the free, stronger in its principles 
and greater in its power for the execution of its benefi- 
cent mission. [Long-continued applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 355 



CCXIII. 

Address at the Washington Memorml Services, 
Mount Vernon, December 14, 1899. 

Mij Fellow-Citizens : 

We have just participated in a service commemora- 
tive of the one hundredth anniversary of the death of 
George Washington. Here at his old home, which he 
loved so well, and which the patriotic women of the 
country have guarded with loving hands, exercises are 
conducted under the auspices of the great fraternity of 
Masons, which a century ago planned and executed the 
solemn ceremonial which attended the Father of his 
Country to his tomb. The lodge in which he was initi- 
ated and the one over which he afterward presided as 
Worshipful Master, accorded positions of honor at his 
obsequies, are to-day represented here in token of pro- 
found respect to the memory of their most illustrious 
member and beloved brother. 

Masons throughout the United States testify anew 
their reverence for the name of Washington and the 
inspiring example of his life. Distinguished representa- 
tives are here from all the Grand Lodges of the country 
to render the ceremonies as dignified and impressive as 
possible, and most cordial greetings have come from 
across our borders and from beyond the sea. 

Not alone in this country, but throughout the world, 
have Masons taken especial interest in the observance of 
this centennial anniversary. The fraternity justly claims 
the immortal patriot as one of its members ; the whole 



356 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

human family acknowledges him as one of its greatest 
benefactors. Public bodies, patriotic societies, and other 
organizations, our citizens everywhere, have esteemed it 
a privilege to-day to pay their tribute to his memory 
and to the splendor of his achievements in the advance- 
ment of justice and liberty among men. '■'■ His fair fame, 
secure in its immortality, shall shine thi*o' countless ages 
with undiminished luster." 

The struggling republic for which Washington was 
willing to give his life, and for which he ever freely 
spent his fortune, and which at all times was the object 
of his most earnest solicitude, has steadily and wonder- 
fully developed along the lines which his sagacity and 
foresight carefully planned. It has stood every trial, 
and at the dawn of a new centurj'^ is stronger than ever 
to carry forward its mission of liberty. During all the 
intervening years it has been true, forever true, to the 
precepts of the Constitution which he and his illustrious 
colleagues framed for its guidance and government. 

He was the national architect, says Bancroft the 
historian, and but for him the nation could not have 
achieved its independence, could not have formed its 
Union, could not have put the federal government into 
operation. He had neither precedent nor predecessor. 
His work was original and constructive and has success- 
fully stood the severest tests. 

He selected the site for the capital of the republic he 
founded, and gave it the name of the Federal City, but 
the commission substituted the name of Washington as 
the more fitting, and to be a perpetual recognition of the 
services of the commander-in-chief of the Continental 
Army, the president of the convention which framed the 
Constitution, and the first President of the republic. 
More than seventy-five millions of people acknowledge 



OF WILLLA.M McKINLEY. 357 

allegiance to the flag wliich lie made triumpliaiit. The 
nation is his best eulogist and his noblest monument. 

I have been deeply interested and touched by the 
sentiments of his contemporaries, uttered a hundred 
years ago on the occasion of his death. The Rev. Wal- 
ter King, of Norwich, Connecticut, in the course of an 
eloquent eulogy delivered in that city on January 5, 
1800, said in part : 

By one mighty effort of manly resolution we were born anew, 
and declared our independence. Now commenced the bloody 
contest of everything we held dear. The same Almighty Being 
by whose guidance we were hitherto conducted beheld us in com- 
passion and saw what we needed— a pilot, a leader in the peril- 
ous enterprise we had undertaken. He called for Washington, 
already prepared, anointed him as his servant with regal dig- 
nity, and put into his hands the control of all our defensive 
operations. 

But here admiration suppresses utterance. Your own minds 
must fill out the active character of the man. A description of 
the warlike skill, the profound wisdom, the prudence, the heroism 
and integrity which he displayed in the character of commander- 
in-chief would suffer materially in hands like mine. But this I 
may say: the eyes of all our American Israel were placed upon 
him as their savior, under the direction of Heaven, and they were 
not disappointed. 

The Rev. Nathan Strong, pastor of the North Presby- 
terian Church in Hartford, spoke as follows on Decem- 
ber 27, 1799 : 

He was as much the angel of peace as of war, as much respected, 
as deeply reverenced in the political cabinet for a luminous cool- 
ness of disposition, whereby party jealousy became enlightened 
and ashamed of itself, as he was for a coolness of command in 
the dreadful moment when empires hung suspended on the fat-e of 
battle. His opinions became the opinions of the public body, and 
every man was pleased with himself when he found he thought 
like Washington. 



358 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

Under the auspices of this great warrior, who was formed by 
the providence of God to defend his country, the war was ended 
and America ranked among the nations. He who might have 
been a monarch returned to his own Vernon, unclothed of all au- 
thority, to enjoy the bliss of being a free private citizen. This 
was a strange sight, and gave a new' triumph to human virtue— 
a triumph that hath never been exceeded in the history of the 
world, except it was by his second recess, which was from the 
Presidency of the United States. 

And on the day preceding, December 26, 1799, in the 
course of his memorable funeral oration before both 
houses of Congress, Major-General Lee, then a repre- 
sentative from the State of Virginia, gave utterance to 
the noble sentiment, as forceful to-day as in those early 
days of our national life : 

To the horrid din of battle sweet peace succeeded, and oitr vir- 
tuous chief, mindful only of the common good, in a moment tempt- 
ing personal aggrandizement, hushed the discontent of growing 
sedition, and, surrendering his power into the hands from which 
he had received it, converted his sword into a plowshare, teaching 
an admiring world that to be truly great you must be truly good. 

While strong with his own generation, he is even 
stronger in the judgment of the generations which have 
followed. After a lapse of a century he is better appreci- 
ated, more perfectly understood, more thoroughly ven- 
erated and loved than when he lived. He remains an 
ever-increasing influence for good in every part and 
sphere of action of the republic. He is recognized as 
not only the most far-sighted statesman of his genera- 
tion, but as having had almost prophetic vision. He 
built not alone for his own time, but for the great future, 
and pointed the rightful solution of many of the problems 
which were to arise in the years to come. 



OF WILLIAM McKIXLEY. 359 

John Adams, the immediate successor of Washington, 
said of him in an address to the Senate on the 23d of 
December, 1799 : 

For himself, he had lived enough to life and to glory. For 
his fellow-citizens, if their prayers could have been answered, he 
would have been immortal. . . . His example is now complete, 
and it will teach wisdom and virtue to magistrates, citizens, and 
men, not only in the present age, but in future generations, as 
long as our history shall be read. 

The nation needs at this moment the help of his wise 
example. In dealing with our vast responsibilities we 
turn to him. We invoke the counsel of his life and 
character and courage. We summon his precepts that 
we may keep [his pledges to maintain justice and law, 
education and morality, and civil and religious liberty 
in every part of oui* country, the new as well as the old. 



CCXIV. 

Reply to Speech op Delegates from National Board 
OF Trade, Executive Ma^^sion, January 24, 1900. 

Upon the occasion of the call of the members of the 
National Board of Trade upon President McKinley, 
January 24, 1900, ex-Governor Stauard, speaking in 
behalf of the board, delivered quite an extended address 
to the President, in which he outlined the desires and 
purposes of the board, concluding in these words : 

" We congratulate you, Mr. President, upon the pros- 
perity of the country and the success of your adminis- 
tration." 



360 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

In replying tlie President said : 

I cannot conceal the pleasure and honor I feel in this 
call on the part of the National Board of Trade, rep- 
resenting as it does the large and varied and important 
interests of our country. I rejoice with you upon our 
prosperity, and I trust that it may be long continued to 
the American people. Its continuance will very much de- 
pend upon the wisdom and conservatism of the business 
men of the United States. Can we not rely upon them 
to help us solve the great and momentous problems to 
which your chairman has referred, for the highest in- 
terest of the American people, and for the greatest 
good of those who have come within our jurisdiction 
and care ? 

ccxv. 

Speech at Banquet of the Loyal Legion, Wash- 
ington, February 22, 1900. 

Comrades and Friends : 

I had no thought, in meeting with you to-night, to 
interrupt the interesting program already arranged for 
the evening's entertainment, and I rise now only to 
express to you my hearty ajjpreciation of the welcome 
which you have given me, and the pleasure it affords 
me to meet once more with the veterans of '61. I 
recall that it was this commandery, the commandery of 
the District of Columbia, that installed me years ago a 
companion in your organization. I have come to-night 
to pay my respects to my comrades of the Civil War, 
and to my companions in times of peace. The Union 
for which you fought has been saved by the valor, hero- 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 361 

ism, and sacrifice of yourselves and your comrades. 
We are together now, and the national sentiment is 
stronger, firmer, and higher than it ever was before. 
[Applause.] 

There has been within the past two years a reunion 
of all the people around the holy altar of country, newly 
sanctified by common sacrifice. The followers of Grant 
and of Lee have fought under the same colors and have 
fallen for the same cause, and let us, comrades of the 
Loyal Legion, on this the anniversary of the birth of 
the Father of his Country, resolve, in the language of 
Lincoln, to dedicate ourselves anew to the imperishable 
cause which he advanced so far upon its way ; and as 
Lincoln said at Gettysburg, let us firmly resolve that those 
who gave their lives shall not have died in vain ; that the 
nation for which they shed their blood shall not perish 
from the earth. [Great applause.] 



CCXVI. 

Speech at Banquet of the Ohio Society of New 
York, New York, ]\LiRCH 3, 1900. 

3Ir. Toasfmaster and Gentlemen : 

I appreciate your welcome, and thank you for this 
renewed expression of your friendship and good will. 
It is proper that I should say that the Managing Board 
of the Ohio Society has kept the promise made to me 
some months ago, that I would not be expected or 
required to speak at this banquet ; and because of that 
promise I have made some preparation. [Laughter 
and applause.] I shall not be guilty of reflecting on 



3G2 SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

their good faith, or breaking my own resolution not to 
speak, if I indulge in some observations while expressing 
in the briefest manner the pleasure which I have in 
greeting my old friends of the Ohio colony in New York. 
[Applause.] There is a bond of close fellowship which 
unites Ohio people. Whithersoever they journey or 
wherever they dwell, they cherish the tenderest mem- 
ories of their mother State, and she in turn never fails 
of affectionate interest in her widely scattered children. 
The statement which has so often been made is not 
far from the truth, '' Once an Ohioan always an Ohioan." 
[Applause.] It has been some years since I was your 
guest. Much has happened in the meantime. We have 
had our blessings and our burdens, and still have both. 
[Laughter.] We will soon have legislative assurance of 
the continuance of t he gold standard [ great applause] 
with which we measure our exchanges, and we have the 
open door in the far East through which to market our 
[products. [Continued applause.] We are neither in \ 
alliance nor antagonism nor entanglement with any | 
foreign power [great and long-continued applause], but ' 
on terms of amity and cordiality with all. [Applause.] 
We buy from all of them and sell to all of them, and 
in the last two years our sales have exceeded our pur- 
chases by over one billion dollars. [Applause.] Mar- 
kets have been increased and mortgages have been 
reduced. [Laughter and applause.] Interest has faUen 
and the wages of labor have advanced. [Applause.] 
Our public debt is diminishing and our surplus in the 
Treasury holds its own. It is no exaggeration to say 
that the country is well-to-do. Its people for the most 
part are happy and contented. They have good times 
at home and are on good terms with the nations of the 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 363 

■world. There are, unfortunatel}^, those among us, few 
in number, I am sure, and none in the Ohio Society 
[laughter], who seem to thrive best under bad times 
[laughter], and who, when good times overtake them in 
the United States, feel constrained to put us on bad 
terms with the rest of mankind. [Laughter.] With 
them I have no sympathy. I would rather give expres- 
sion in this presence to what I believe to be the nobler 
and almost universal sentiment of my countrymen, in 
the wish not only for peace and prosperity here, but for 
peace and prosperity to all the nations and peoples of 
the earth. [Great applause.] After thirty-three years 
of unbroken peace came an unavoidable war. Happily 
the conclusion was quickly reached, without a suspicion 
of unworthy motive or practice or purpose on our part, 
and with fadeless honor to our arms. [Applause.] I 
cannot forget the quick response of the people to the 
country's need, and the quarter of a million men who 
freely offered their lives. to their country's service. It 
was an impressive spectacle of national strength. It 
demonstrated om* mighty reserve power, and taught us 
that large standing armies are unnecessary when every 
citizen is a "minute man," ready to join the ranks in 
his country's defense. [Great applause.] 

Out of these recent events have come to the United 
States grave trials and responsibilities. As it was the 
nation's war, so are its results the nation's problem. 
[Applause.] Its solution rests upon us all. It is too 
serious to stifle. It is too earnest for repose. No 
phrase or catchword can conceal the sacred obligation 
it involves. No iise of epithets, no aspersion of motives 
by those who differ will contribute to that sober judg- 
ment so essential to right conclusions. [Applause.] 



364: SPEECHES AND ADDEESSES 

No political outcry can abrogate our treaty of peace 
with Spain, or absolve us from its solemn engagements. 
[Long-continued applause.] It is the people's ques- 
tion, and will be until its determination is written out 
in their conscientious and enlightened judgment. We 
must choose between manly doing and base desertion. 
[Great applause.] It will never be the latter. [Con- 
tinued applause.] It must be soberly settled in justice 
and good conscience, and it will be. Righteousness, 
which exalteth a nation, must control in its solution. 
No great emergency has arisen in this nation's history 
and progress which has not been met by the sovereign 
people with high capacity, with ample strength, and 
with unflinching fidelity to every public and honorable 
obligation. Partizanship can hold few of us against 
solemn public duty. We have seen this so often 
demonstrated in the past as to mark unerringly what 
it will be in the future. The national sentiment and 
the national conscience were never stronger or higher 
than now. [Applause.] Within two years there has 
been a reunion of the people around the holy altar con- 
secrated to country and newly sanctified bycommon sacri- 
fices. [Great applause.] The followers of Grant and 
Lee have fought under the same flag and fallen for the 
same faith. [Continued great applause.] Party lines 
have loosened and the ties of union have been strength- 
ened. [Applause.] Sectionalism has disappeared and 
fraternity and union have been rooted in the hearts of 
the American people. Political passion has altogether 
subsided, and patriotism glows with inextinguishable 
fervor in every home of the land. [Applause.] The 
flag— our flag— has been sustained on distant seas and 
islands by the men of all parties and sections and creeds 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 365 

and races aud nationalities, and its stars are only those 
of radiant hope to the remote peoples over whom it 
floats. [Great applause.] — 

There can be no imperialism. Those who fear it are 
against it. Those who have faith in the repubhc are ^ 
against it. [Applanse.] So that there is universal ab- -^ 
horrence for it and unanimous opposition to it. [En- 
thusiastic applause.] Our only difference is that those 
who do not agree with us have no confidence in the 
virtue or capacity or high purpose or good faith of this 
free people as a civilizing agency, while we believe that 
the century of free government which the American 
people have enjoyed has not rendered them irresolute 
and faitliless, but has fitted them for the great task of 
lifting up and assisting to better conditions and larger 
liberty those distant peoples who, through the issue of 
battle, have become our wards. [Great applause.] Let 
us fear not ! There is no occasion for faint hearts, no 
excuse for regrets. Nations do not grow in strength, 
and the cause of liberty and law is not advanced, by the 
doing of easy things. [Applause.] The harder the task 
the greater will be the result, the benefit, and the honor. 
To doubt our power to accomplish it is to lose faith in 
the soundness and strength of our popular institutions. 
[Applause.] 

The liberators wiU never become the oppressors. A 
self-governed people will never permit despotism in any 
government which they foster and defend. [Great ap- , 
plause.] 

Gentlemen, we have the new care and cannot shift it. 
And, breaking up the camp of ease and isolation, let us 
bravely and hopefully and soberly continue the march 
of faithful service, and falter not until the work is done. 



366 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

[Great applause.] It is not possible that seventy-five 
millions of American freemen are unable to establish 
liberty and justice and good government in our new 
possessions. [Continued applause.] The burden is our 
opportunity. The opportunity is greater than the bur- 
den. [Applause.] May God give us strength to bear 
the one, and wisdom so to embrace the other that we 
may carry to our new acquisitions the guaranties of 
" life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness " ! [Enthu- 
siastic and long-continued applause.] 

CCXVII. 

Address at the Ecumenical Conference on Foreign 
Missions, New York, April 21, 1900. 

Mr. Chairman, Members of the Ecumenical Conference, 
Ladies and Gentlemen : 
Words of welcome are unnecessary here. This rep- 
resentative gathering, this earnest and sympathetic 
assemblage, presided over by one of America's most 
illustrious statesmen and citizens, General Harrison 
[great applause], is your true and best welcome. It 
attests the profound pleasure and satisfaction which all 
of us feel that the representatives of more than two 
hundred societies engaged in the work of foreign mis- 
sions in every part of the globe are guests within our 
gates. To them are extended the hospitality of our 
homes and the devotion of our hearts [enthusiastic ap- 
plause], in acknowledgment and encouragement of their 
faithfulness and unselfishness in a great movement for 
uplifting the races of men, teaching them the truth of 
the common fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of 



OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 367 

man, and showing that, if we are not our brothers' 
keepers, we can be our brothers' helpers. [Appkxuse.] 

I am glad of the opportunity to offer without stint my 
tribute of respect to the missionary effort which has 
wi'ought such wonderful triumphs for civilization. The 
story of the Christian missions is one of thi'illing inter- 
est and marvelous results. The sacrifices of the mis- 
sionaries for their fellow-men constitute one of the most 
glorious pages of the world's history. [Great applause.] 
The missionary, of whatever church or ecclesiastical 
body, who devotes his life to the service of the Master 
and of man, carrying the torch of truth and enlighten- 
ment, deserves the gratitude and homage of mankind. 
[Renewed applause.] The noble, self-effacing, willing 
ministers of peace and good will should be classed with 
the world's heroes. Wielding the sword of the Spirit, 
they have conquered ignorance and prejudice. They 
have been the pioneers of civilization. They have illu- 
mined the darkness of idolatry and superstition with the 
light of intelligence and truth. They have been messen- 
gers of righteousness and love. They have braved dis- 
ease and danger and death, and in their exile have suf- 
fered unspeakable hardships, but their noble spirits 
have never wavered. They count their labor no sacri- 
fice. "Away with the word in such a view and with 
such a thought!" says David Livingstone: ''it is em- 
phatically no sacrifice; say, rather, it is a privilege." 
They furnish us examples of forbearance and fortitude, 
of patience and unyielding purpose, and of a spirit which 
triumphs, not by the force of might, but by the majesty 
of right. They are placing in the hands of their brothers, 
less fortunate than themselves, the keys which unlock 
the treasures of knowledge and open the mind to noble 



368 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 

aspirations for better conditions. Education is one of 
the indispensable steps of mission enterprise, and in some 
form must precede all successful work. 

The labors of missionaries, always difficult and trying, 
are no longer so perilous as in former times. In some 
quarters indifference and opposition have given place to 
aid and cooperation. A hundred years ago many of the 
fields were closed to missionary effort. Now almost 
everywhere is the open door, and only the map of the 
world marks the extent of their thought and action. 

Who can estimate their value to the progress of the 
nations ? Their contribution to the onward and upward 
march of humanity is beyond all calculation. They 
have inculcated industry and taught the various trades. 
They have promoted concord and amity and brought 
nations closer together. They have made men better. 
They have increased the regard for home, have strength- 
ened the sacred ties of family, have made the community 
well-ordered, and their work has been a potent influence 
in the development of law and the establishment of 
government. 

May this great meeting rekindle the spirit of mis- 
sionary ardor and enthusiasm to " go teach all nations " ; 
may the field never lack '' a succession of heralds who 
shall carry on the task— the continuous proclamation of 
His gospel to the end of time"! [Long-continued 
applause.] 



OF WILLIAM Mckinley. 369 



CCXVIII. 

Speech at Antietajm Battle-Field, Maryland, 
May 30, 1900. 

Mr. Chairman and my Fellow- Citizens: 

I appear only for a moment that I may make acknow- 
ledgment of your courteous greeting and express in a 
single word my sympathy with the patriotic occasion 
for which we have assembled to-day. 

In this presence and on this memorable field I am 
glad to meet the followers of Lee and Jackson and 
Longstreet and Johnston with the followers of Grant and 
McClellan and Sherman and Sheridan, greeting each 
other, not with arms in their hands or malice in their 
souls, but with affection and respect for each other in 
their hearts. [Applause.] Standing here to-day, one 
reflection only has crowded my mind— the difference be- 
tween this scene and that of thirty-eight years ago. 
Then the men who wore the blue and the men who wore 
the gray greeted each other with shot and shell, and 
visited death upon their respective ranks. We meet, 
after these intervening years, as friends, with a common 
sentiment,— that of loyalty to the government of the 
United States, love for our flag and our free institutions, 
—and determined, men of the North and men of the 
South, to make any sacrifice for the honor and per- 
petuity of the American nation. [Great applause.] 

My countrymen, I am glad, and you are glad also, of 
that famous meeting between Grant and Lee at Appo- 
mattox Court-House. I am glad we were kept together 

24 



370 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES. 

—are n't you? [cries of ''Yes ! "]— glad that the Union 
was saved by the honorable terms made between Grant 
and Lee under the famous apple-tree ; and there is one 
glorious fact that must be gratifying to all of us— 
American soldiers never surrendered but to Americans ! 
[Enthusiastic applause.] 

The past can never be undone. The new day brings 
its shining sun to light our duty now. I am glad to 
preside over a nation of nearly eighty million people, 
more united than they have ever been since the forma- 
tion of the Federal Union. [Applause.] I account it a 
great honor to participate on this occasion with the State 
of Maryland in its tribute to the valor and heroism and 
sacrifices of the Confederate and Union armies. The 
valor of the one or the other, the valor of both, is the 
common heritage of us all. The achievements of that 
war, every one of them, are just as much the inheritance 
of those who failed as those who prevailed ; and when 
we went to war two years ago the men of the South and 
the men of the North vied with each other in showing 
their devotion to the United States. [Applause.] The 
followers of the Confederate generals with the followers 
of the Federal generals fought side by side in Cuba, in 
Porto Rico, and in the Philippines, and together in those 
far-ofe islands are standing to-day fighting and dying 
for the flag they love, the flag that represents more than 
any other banner in the world the best hopes and aspira- 
tions of mankind. [Great and long-continued applause.] 



INDEX 



INDEX. 



Aberdeen, South Dakota, 289, 294, 298. 

Speech at, Oct. 14, '99, 284. 
Ackley, Iowa. 

Speech at, Oct. 16, '99, 302. 
Adams, John, 73, 195. 

Remarks of, on death of Washington, 

359. 
Adams, Massachusetts. 

Speech at, Oct. 1, '97, 50. 

Speech at, June 24, '99, 207. 

Speech at, June 26, '99, 208. 
Administration, The. 

Has no aim but a public aim ; no pur- 
pose but a good one, 232. 
Agricultural Colleges. 

Wisdom of provision for, 93. 
Agriculture. 

JHas languished under depression, 7. 

Amount of products exported, 98. 
Aguinaldo, 296. 

Contention of, 281. 
Aitkin, Minnesota. 

Remarks at, Oct. 13, '99, 274. 
Akron, Ohio. 

Speech at, Sept. 4, '97, 46. 
Alabama, 167, 170, 266, 297. 

Loyal to flag and devoted to American 

name and houor, 171. 
Alaska, 213, 330. 

Acquisition of, 267. 

Acquisition of, fiercely resisted, 267. 

Minority report on bill for purchase 

of, 267. 
Alger, RusssU A., 44. 
Allison, W. B., 86, 305. 
American Medical Association, Phila- 
delphia. 

Remarks to, 22. 
American Republics. 

Products and advancement of, 25. 
Ames, Iowa. 

Speech at, Oct. 11, '98, 92. 
Andrew, John A., 196. 
Antietam battle-fleld, Maryland. 

Speech at. May 30, 1900, 369. 



Appomattox Conrt-Honse, 201, 202, 223. 

230, 253, 259, 2S2, 353, 354, 369. 

Greatest Union meeting ever held 

beneath the flag, 201. 
Arbitration. 

True method of settling differences, 12. 

Treaty with Great Britain sliould be 

ratified, 13. 

(See International Peace Conference.) 
Areola, Illinois. 

Speech at, Oct. 15, '98, 124. 
Arizona, 260. 

Al-ray, 96,' 97, 103, 116, 135, 139, 144, 14.5, 

148, 149, 1.52, 154, 155, 160, 161, 171, 179, 

200, 203, 214, 215, 224, 225, 226, 246, 293, 

296, 309, 318, 324, 336, 343, 352. 

In Civil War, 38, 39, 43. 

Services mentioned, 84, 85. 

Promptness of muster for Spanish 

War, 92, 125. 

Standing, large, not required, 172, 270, 

363. 

Standing, should be large enough 

to do all work required during peace, 

172. 
Army of the Tennessee. 

Speech at reunion, Oct. 10, '99, 247. 
Ashland, Virginia. 

Remarks at, Oct. 31, '99, 348. 
Atlanta, Georgia. 

Speech before legislature in joint as- 
sembly. State Capitol, Dec. 14, '98, 158. 

Speech at Auditorium, Dec. 15, '98, 159. 

First to celebrate signing of treaty of 

peace with Spain, 160. 

Speech at banquet, Dec. 16, 98, 164. 
Atlanta, Indiana. 

Speech at, Oct. 21, '98, 142. 
Augusta, Georgia. 

Speech at, Dec. 19, '98, 181. 
Austria-Hungary, 78, 79. 



Baldwin, George E., 220. 
Baldwin Locomotive Works, 200. 



26 



373 



V 



374 



INDEX. 



Bancroft, George. 
His view of work of George Washing- 
ton, 856. 

Bates, John C, 180. 

Battle Creek, Michigan. 
Remarks at, Oct. 17, '99, 334. 

BuUe Plaine, Iowa. 
Speech at, Oct. 11, '98, 89. 

Bimetallism. 
International, will endeavor to se- 
cure, 4. 

Black, Samuel L., 151. 

Blaine, James G. 
First convention of American repub- 
lics due to, 28. 

Blue, The, and The Gray. 
Reunion of, Evans ville, Ind., 257. 

Boer War. 
Response to committee presenting pe- 
tition for mediation of the United 
States between Great Britain and the 
Boers, Oct. 26, '99, 347. 

Boone, Iowa. 
Speech at, Oct. 11, '98, 94. 

Boston, Massachusetts. 
Speech at Home Market Club dinner, 
Peb. 16, '99, 185. 

Speech at G. A. R. encampment, Feb. 
17, '99, 193. 

Speech to the General Court, Feb. 
17, '99, 195. 

Speech at Commercial Club recep- 
tion, Feb. 17, '99, 197. 

Brainerd, Minnesota. 
Speech at, Oct. 13, '99, 275. 

Brumby, Thomas M., 254. 

Bryant, William Cullen. 
Quotation from, 176. 

Buffalo, New York, 223. 
Remarks from balcony of hotel, Aug. 
24, '97, 37. 

Speech at banquet of Ellicott Club, 
Aug. 24, '97, 38. 

Speech at G. A. B. camp-fire, Asbury 
Church, Aug. 24, '97, 40. 
Speech at G. A. R. camp-fire, Dela- 
ware Avenue M. E. Chui'ch, Aug. 24, 
'97, 41. 

Bunker Hill, 162. 

Bureau of American Republics, 28. 

Bushnell, Illinois. 
Remarks at, Oct. 6, '99, 228. 

Byron, Lord. 
Quotation from, 153. 



Caldwell, Harry H. 
Caldwell, James K, 
California. 

Cession of, 266. 
California Artillery 
Canibon, Jules, 79. 
Canada, 243, 253. 
Candler, Allen D., 159 



226. 
324. 



215. 



Cannon, Joseph G., 130, 257, 258. 
Canton, Illinois. 

Speech at, Oct. 6, '99, 228. 
Canton, Ohio, 229, 351. 

Speech upon departure, March 1, '97, 1. 

Remarks at, Sept. 4, '97, 46. 

Speech to Commercial Travelers' As- 
sociation and employees of Dueber 

Heights, Nov. 1, '97, 55. 

Remarks at, Aug. 30, '99, 220. 

Speech at, Aug. 30, '99, 221. 
Carnegie, Andrew, 5'r. 
Carroll, Iowa. 

Speech at, Oct. 11, '98, 96. 
Cavite, 163. 
Cedar Falls, Iowa. 

Speech at, Oct. 16, '99, 304. 
Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 

Speech at, Oct. 11, '98, 86. 
Centennial Exposition of 1876, 26. 
Cervera, Pascual, 350. 
Chariton, Iowa. 

Speech at, Oct. 13, '98, 113. 
Chicago, Illinois. 

Speech at Auditorium, Oct. 18, '93, ISi. 

Remarks to gathering in front of 

Union League Club, Oct. 19, '98, 132. 

Speech at banquet. Auditorium, Oct. 

19, '98, 133. 

Speech at First Regiment Armory be- 
fore Allied Organizations of Railroad 

Employees, Oct. 20, '98, 136. 

Remarks to Chicago Committee on 

International Arbitration, Oct. 20, '98, 

138. 

Remarks at Marquette Club banquet, 

Oct. 7, '99, 241. 

Remarks at children's exercises. Au- 
ditorium, Oct. 8, '99, 242. 

Remarks at Quinn Chapel, Oct. 8, '99, 

242. 

Speech at Citizens' banquet, Oct. 9, 

'99, 243. 

Sjieech at the reunion of the Army 

of the Tennessee, Oct. 10, '99, 247. 

Speech to Bricklayers and Stone-Ma- 
sons' Union, Oct. 10, '99, 248. 

Speech at banquet of Commercial Club, 

Oct. 10, '99, 250. 
Chief Justice, The, 15. 
Choate, Charles F., 197. 
Choate, Rufiis, 195. 
Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Remarks in Chamber of Commerce, 

Oct. 29, '97, 51. 

Remarks at dinner of Commercial 

Club, Oct. 30, '97, 52. 
Citizen. 

Vigilance of, is safety of republic, 

336. 
Citizenship, 255. 

Highest and best should be cultivated, 

42. 

Destiny of our government rests upon 

it, 42. 



INDEX. 



375 



W ^53*^^*^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ""'^ responsi- 

Careless and indifferent, great enemy 

ot free government, 53. 

Always improved by education, 93. 

i-ducated, is hope of country, 93. 

Indifferent, is always unfortunate, 95 

trood, necessary to material advance- 

ment, 183. 
Civilization. 

No achievements worth having which 

do not advance, 87. 
Civil Service. 

Reforms must go on, 10. 

Spirit of law will be carried out, 10. 

la )nf ',H' ^^' 2^' ^°' ^1> *3. 48, 50, 66, 
89 108, 116, ISO, 155, 194, 224, 230, 246 
257, 276, 289, 294, 310, 324, 335, 353. 
Beneficial results of, 42. 
Debt, 76. 

Enlistment of students, 93. 
Reviewof veterans onboth sides of IS-J 
Lincoln's object in, not to free slaves" 
but to save the Union, 134, 294 ' 

Every soldier's grave made during, is 
tribute toAmerican valor, 159 
Dififerences of, long ago settled by the 
arbitrament of arms, 159. 
Veterans of, 194, 206, 226, 248 259 
272, 2S3, 285, 328, 360. ' ' 

Clay, Henry, 181. 
Cleveland, Ohio, 342. 

Remarks at the Hollenden, Oct. 18, 
yy, oo7. 
Cliff Haven, New York. 
Speech at CathoUc Summer School 
Aug. 15, '99, 209. ' 

Clinton, Illinois. 

Speech at, Oct. 15, '98, 128. 
Clinton, Iowa. 

Speech at, Oct. 11, '98, 85. 
Clintons, The, 73. 
College Ciirner, Indiana. 

Remarks at, Oct. 21, '98, 148. 
Colorado, 2G4, 266. 
Columbia, South Carolina. 

Speech at, Dec. 19, '98, 183. 
Columbus, Ohio. 
Speech at State fair, Sept. 3, '97 44 
Speech at, Oct. 21, '98, 151. ' " 

Commerce, 362. 
International, advance of, 24 
Good wiU precedes good trade, 25. 
Advantages of its promotion, 54 
Is teacher and pacificator, 54. 
Commercial Club, Boston. 

Speech at reception, Feb. 17, '99, 197. 
Confederacy. 

Veterans of, 181. 
Confederate soldiers. 
North should share with South in care 
of graves of, 159. 
Congress, 136, 226, 346. 
Action of, needed to restore prosper- 
ity, 8. 



Should help restore merchant ma- 
rine, 11. 

Need for extraordinary session of, 13. 
Extraordinary session of, will be con- 
vened March 15, '97, 14. 
Provision regarding Washington's in- 
auguration, 72. 

Must provide legislation to meet our 
responsibilities, 135. 
Is servant of the people, 269. 

Connecticut, 184, 265. 

Connersville, Indiana. 
Speech at, Oct. 21, '98, 147 

Constitution, The. 
Spirit of, has been steadUy enforced, 

Converse, J. H., 200. 
Cooper, Henry A., 313. 
Cornell University, 225. 
Corning, Iowa. 

Speech at, Oct. 13, '98, 110. 
ComwaUis, surrender of, at Yorktown, 

Cotton, Charles S., 324. 

Council Bluffs, Iowa. 
Speech at, Oct. 13, '98, 106. 

Cousins, Robert G., 89 

Crane, W. ilui-ray, 185. 

Credit. 
Of government must be preserved, 4 
i^est secured through adequate inl 
come, 0. 1 u 

National, better than ever before 85 
91, 111, 120, 127, 129, 314. ' ' 

Has ever been upheld, 245 
Creston, Iowa. 
Speech at, Oct. 13, '98, 111 

oo-'o^,1' }~^' 1^^' 163, 186, 212, 242,- 
295, 317, 319, 335, 370. " , ' 

A disturbing question for more than 
half a century, II5. 
Causes of trouble to the United States 
now removed, 115. 

Cullom, Shelby M., 126. 

Currency, 63. 

Should continue under supervision of 
government, 3. 

Abundant and unquestioned, 85. 
Gushing, William B., 104. 



Dahle, Herman B., 316. 
Dahlgren, John A., 155 
Danville, Illinois. 

Speech at, Oct. 11, '99, 257 
Debt. 

Of nation shall not be scaled down 
through a legal technicality, 63. 

Decatur, niinois. 
Speech at, Oct. 15, '98, 125. 

Decatur, Stephen, 104. 

Declaration of Independence, 243, 354. 

De Kalb, Illinois. 

Remarks at, Oct. 11, '98, 84. 



376 



INDEX. 



Delaware, 265, 268. 

Delaware Avenue Church, Buffalo, 41. 

Denison, Iowa. 

Speech at, Oct. 11, '98, 97. 
Destiny, 134. 
Detroit City, Minnesota. 

Remarks at, Oct. 13, '99, 278. 
Dewey, George. 107, 127, 139, 156, 174, 

187, 203, 212, 226, 287, 290, 295, 316, 333, 

339, 343. 

Kemarks Tipon occasion of presenta- 
tion of sword to, 225. 
Dewitt, Iowa. 

Remarks at, Oct. 11, '98, 86. 
District of Columbia, 268, 330. 
Dotige, Grenville M., 247. 
Dodgeville, Wisconsin. 

Speech at, Oct. 16, '99, 314. 
Dolliver, J. P., 97. 

"Don't cheer, the poor fellows are dy- 
ing," 89. 
" Don't fire, the flag has gone down," 89. 
Douglas, Stephen A., 130, 233-235, 238. 

Opposed to Lincoln in politics ; united 

with him for the Union, 130. 

View.'j of, on expansion, 320. 
Dubuque, Iowa. 

Speech at, Oct. 16, '99, 310. 
Duluth, Jlinnesota. 

Speech at, Oct. 13, '99, 272. 
Dupont, Samuel F., 16, 155. 
Duty. 

Determines destiny, 134. 

Difficulties attending performance of, 

134. 

Performance of, always honorable, 134. 

Alone should prescribe the boundary 

of our responsibilities and scope of 

our undertakings, 135. 

Desertion of, not an American habit, 

196. 

Responsibilities born of, can never be 

repudiated, 227. 

Unperformed is dishonor, 227. 

Is best policy, 325. 

Responsiliility born of, cannot be 

evaded with honor, 325. 



Egan, South Dakota. 

Speech at, Oct. 14, '99, 293. 
Eighth Army-Corps, 262, 280, 284. 

Privilege of muster out when treaty 

was ratified declined, 212. 

Commendation of service of, 213. 
Eighth Ohio Regiment, 219. 

Speech to, 221. 
El Caney, 107, 116, 127, 153, 178, 198, 202, 

246. 
Elk Point, South Dakota. 

Remarks at, Oct. 14, '99, 300. 
Ellicott Club, Buffalo. 

Speech at banquet, Aug. 24, '97, 38. 
Emancipation Proclamation, 201, 232, 

281, 294. 
Equality. 

Of rights must prevail, 9. 

Of American citizens, 42. 
Evanston, Illinois. 

Speech at, Oct. 17, '99, 331. 
Evansville, Indiana, 256. 

Speech at fair grounds, Oct. 11, '99, 253. 

Remarks from train, Oct. 11, '99, 255. 
Everett, Edward, 195. 
Executive, The, 136, 191. 
Expansion, 163, 174, 181, 188, 220, 244, 

264, 287, 302, 318, 319, 336. 

Territorial, not alone necessary to 

national advancement, 135. 

Views of Stephen A. Douglas, 320. 
Exports, 303, 316, 323. 

Greater than ever before, 98, 124. 

Amount of, in 1898, 98. 

Greater than imports, 124. 

Three fourths of, come from fields 

and farms of the United States, 124. 

Have made American balances satis- 
factory, 198. 

Manufactuied, greater than imports, 

240. 

Excess of, over imports in 1898 and 

1899, 240. 

Excess of, over imports, 250, 251, 362. 
Expositions. 

Excellent results of, 101. 



E 

East Liverpool, Ohio, 
Speech at, Aug. 28, '99, 218. 
Speech at, Aug. 29, '99, 219. 

Ecumenical Conference, New York, 366. 

Education, 238, 245, 273, 275, 286, 313, 
314, 331. 

Free, spread of, should be encouraged, 
10. 

Extension of, since Revolution, 73. 
Liberal, value of, 74. 
Self-denial and personal struggle ne- 
cessary to acquirement of, 74. 
Best equipment, 249. 
An indispensable step of mission en- 
terprise, 368. 



Fairbanks, Charles W., 144. 
Fargo, North Dakota. 

Speech at, Oct. 13, '99, 279. 
Farragut, David G., 16, 104, 224. 
Fifty-first Iowa Regiment, U. S. V., 215, 

304, 311. 
Finance, 256. 

System needs revision, 2. 

Commission to revise coinage, bank- 
ing, and currency laws suggested, 3. 

Money should be put on enduring 

basis, 3. 

Our system should be strengthened 

and freed from doubt, 55. 

More definite legislation advised, 63. 

Intelligent discussion of, beneficial, 64. 



INDEX. 



377 



Plank of St. Louis platform still com- 
manding, 65. 

Plank of St. Louis platform stateil, 65. 
American name yet untarnished, 76. 
Conditions never better than now, 111. 

First California Regiment, U. S. V., nb. 

First Colorado Regiment, U. S. V., 215. 

First District of Columbia Regiment, 
U. S. V. 6 ' 

Commendation of, 157. 

First Idaho Regiment, U. S. V., 215. 

First Illinois Regiment, U. S. V. 
Congratulations to, 138. 

First Montana Regiment, U. S. V., 215. 
First Nebraska Regiment, U. S. V., 215. 
First North Dakota Regiment, U. S. V., 

215, 280, 283. 
First South Dakota Regiment. U. S. V., 
215, 284, 285, 289, 291, 292, 293, 294, 298. 
Privilege of muster out upon ratifica- 
tion of treaty of peace declined, 290. 
First Tennessee Regiment, U. S. V., 215. 

Gallantry of, at Cebn, 227, 270. 
First Washington Regiment, U. S. V., 

215. 
First Wyoming Regiment, U. S. V., 215. 
Fisher, Miircus A., 221. 
Fitzgerald, Rt. Rev. James N., 210. 
Flag, the, 38, 43, 50, 99, 132, 160, 161, 
206, 209, 210, 218, 223, 227, 229, 230, 

240, 241, 242, 245, 247, 261, 271, 273, 
276, 277, 281, 285, 287, 288, 289, 291, 

296, 297, 303, 304, 306, 308, 309, 310, 

312, 315, 317, 319, 321, 322, 323, 325, 

327, 328, 331, 332, 333, 335, 337, 338, 

340, 341, 343, 352, 367, 364. 

Its followers, 38. 

Loved in every State in the Union, 106. 

Inspires patriotism, 107. 

Followed by trade, 109. 

Always a symbol of humanity and 

civilization, 114. 

Love of, enshrined in all hearts, 121. 

Symbol of patriotism, 123. 

Duty of people to stand by, 123. 

Now floats over Hawaii, 129, 153. 

Never so dear to us as now, 139, 149. 

Never floated over so many places as 

now, 139, 149. 

Never went down in defeat, never 

was raised in dishonor, 145. 

Means more now than ever before. 

145. 

Floats triumphantly over Porto Rico. 

1.53. 

American principles go with, 192. 

Has lost none of its luster in Spanish 

War, 203. 

Does not change in character wher- 
ever it floats, 232. 

Is never raised anywhere for oppres- 
sion, 278. 

Floats for liberty wherever it is 

raised, 278, 282. 

Significance of, 305. 



Florida. 

Cession of, 266. 
Foreign missions, 366-368. 
Foreign policy. 

Outlined, 11, 12. 

Foreign relations mentioned, 262, 313, 

362. 
Fourth Ohio Regiment, U. S. V. 

Service of, in Porto Rico, 153. 
France, 78, 79. 
Francis, David R., 119. 
Franklin, Benjamin, 67. 
Fredericksburg, Virginia. 

Remarks at, Oct. 31, '99, 348. 
Freedom. 

Cause of, advanced by American na- 
tional life, 8. 
Frost, Alfred S., 284. 

Gadsden Purchase, 2C6. 
Galena, Illinois, 201. 

Speech at, Oct. 16, '99, 312. 
Galesburg, Illinois, 238. 
Speech at, Oct. 13, '98, 116. 
Address at, Oct. 7, '99, 232. 
Gallatin, Albert, 76. 
Geneva, Switzerland, 351. 
Georgia Agricultural and Mechanical 
College. 

Advice to students of, 177. 
Germany, 78, 79. 
Gettysburg, 162, 361. 
Gibbons, George P., 248. 
Oilman, Illinois. 

Speech at, Oct. 15, '98, 129. 
Glasgow, Scotland, 182. 
Glenwood, Iowa. 

Speech at, Oct. 13, '98, 107. 
Gold, 240, 314, 316. 

Reserve, 3, 345. 

Parity between, and silver, 4. 

Composed four fifths of Treasury bal- 
ance, Oct. 1, '98, 120. 

Balance, amount of, 292. 
Gold standard, 199, 303, 362. 
Government. 

Popular, strength and spirit of, un- 
doubted, 99. 
Government, The, 247, 259, 260, 307, 315. 

Credit must be preserved, 4. 

Economy in. 4. 

Revenue should exceed expendi- 
tures, 5. 

Credit best secured through adequate 

income, 6. 

All citizens equally responsible for its 

progi-ess and preservation, 34. 

Restricted in its power to promote 

industry, 62. 

Can aid commerce, but not create it, 

62. 

Debt of gi-atitude to American women. 



378 



INDEX. 



Safe in hands of people, 99. 

Principles on which founded must he 

adhered to in settlement of present 

problems, 134. 

llests upon intelligence, morality, and 

patriotism of the people, 183. 

Purpose of, respecting Philippines 

stated, 190, 212. 

Loyalty to, is our national creed, 209. 

Rests in hearts and consciences of the 

people, 273. 

Emanates from the people, 275. 

Is worthy of our best love and affec- 
tion, 300. 
Grady, Henry W., 1C4. 
Grand Army of the Republic, 37, 40, 41, 

44, 92, 193, 202, 222, 223, 224, 230, 283, 

289. 

Its extension to include Spanish War 

veterans suggested, 92, 194. 
Grant, U. S., 16-18, 37, 39, 40, 104, 130, 

165, 194, 201, 202, 203, 224, 230, 248, 

253, 282, 312, 353, 361, 364, 369, 370. 

Cuban revolution during administra- 
tion of, 115. 

Rapid growth of his fame, 201. 

His last public appearance, 202. 

His achievements, 202. 
Grant Monument, New York. 

Address at dedication, 16. 
Gray, James, 262. 
Great Britain, 12, 13, 78, 79. 
Greenbacks. 

No longer drain Treasury of gold, 315. 
Greene, Nathaniel, 104. 
Greenland, 268. 
Guam, 186, 268. 
Guantanamo, 107, 153, 156. 



Hamilton, Alexander, 73, 76. 
Hamilton, Edward L., 334. 
Hamilton, Ohio. 

Speech at, Oct. 21, '98, 149. 
Hampton Institute, "Virginia, 168. 
Hancock, John, 73. 
Hancock, W. S., 16, 194. 
Hansbrough, H. C., 279. 
Harrison, Benjamin, 145, 366. 
Harrisonburg, Virginia. 

Speech at, "May 20, '99, 204. 
Harvard, Tlie, 324. 
Harvard University, 197, 198. 
Haskell, Colonel, 152. 
Hastings, Iowa. 

Remarks at, Oct. 13, '98, 109. 
Havana, 110, 131, 295. 
Hawaii, 268, 287, 320. 

Annexation of, 114, 115, 129. 
Hawkins, Alexander L., 212. 
Hay, John. 

Quotation from, 192. 
Hayes, Rutherford B., 42. 
HemphiU, W. A., 159. 



Henderson, T>. B., 303. 
Hendricks, Thomas A., 115. 
Hengelmiiller von llengerv4r, Ladis- 

laus, 79. 
Hoar, George F., 195. 
Hobson, Mrs., 171. 
Hobson, Richmond P., 116, 156, 171. 
Holleben, Herr von, 79. 
Home, 255, 263, 314, 321, 322, 326. 

Our free institutions founded upon 

its virtue, 36. 

Good citizenship comes from its pu- 
rity, 36. 

Our first concern, 47. 

Safety, pennanence, and virtue of the 

republic rest upon it, 49. 

Origin of best sentiments, 91. 

Purity of, foundation of American 

government, 92. 

Sourceof thepowerof the republic, 137. 

Is foundation of good individual life 

and good government, 177. 

Is training-school for author, soldier, 

and statesman, 206. 

Love of, corner-stone of strength and 

safety, 242. 

Is the ideal government, 275. 

Is school-house for education in duties 

of citizenship, 275. 

Source of virtue and integrity of gov- 
ernment, 275. 

Is hope of our republic, 275. 
Home Market Club, Boston, 185. 
Hongkong, 295. 
Hoopestown, Illinois. 

Speech at, Oct. 11, '99, 258. 
House of Representatives, 72, 346. 
Howell, Clarke, 164. 
Hull, Isaac, 104. 
Humanity. 

Substantial gain to, is real honor of 

victory, 87. 
Huron, South Dakota. 

Speech at, Oct. 14, '99, 288. 



Illinois, 99, 126, 238, 260, 268. 
Population now greater than that of 
thirteen original colonies, 128. 
Always potential in national councils, 
130. 
Response of, to call for volunteers, 130. 

Immigration. 

(See Naturalization.) 

Imperialism, 365. 
Not contemplated by the American 
mind, 192. 

Alien to American sentiment, thought, 
and purpose, 192. 

One of disasters predicted if Louisi- 
ana Purchase was ratiiied, 266. 
Impossible, 365. 

Universal al)horrence for and unani- 
mous opposition to, 365. 



INDEX. 



379 



Imports, 303, 316, 362. 
Present proportion of, to exports, 98. 

Inaugural Address, March 4, '97, 2. 
Country suffering from industrial dis- 
turbances, 2. 

Financial system needs revision, 2. 
Money sliould be put on enduring 
basis, 3. 

Currency should continue under su- 
pervision of government, 3. 
Too many forms of paper money, 3. 
Commission suggested to revise coin- 
age, banking, and currency laws, 3. 
Will endeavor to secure international 
bimetallism, i. 

Parity between gold and silver, 4. 
Silver money must be kept at par, 4. 
Economy demanded at all times, 4. 
Revenue should exceed expenditui-es, 
5. 

Revenue should be sufficient to pro- 
vide for pensioners, 5. 
Surplus created by loans not safe reli- 
ance, 5. 

Loans imperative in emergencies, 6. 
Credit of government must be pre- 
served, 6. 

Taxation best way to raise income, 6. 
Taxation of imports settled policy of 
government, 6. 

Direct taxation avoided except in war, 
6. 

Country opposed to needless addi- 
tions to internal taxation, 6. 
Country committed to tariff taxation 
by latest popular utterance, 6. 
Controlling principle of tariff taxa- 
tion, 6. 

Protection controlling piinciple in 
raising revenue, 6. 
Protection people's will, 6. 
Credit best secured through adequate 
income, 6. 

Voice of the people more potential 
than any political platform, 7. 
Protective legislation should be re- 
stored, 7. 

Reciprocity principle of law of 1890 
should be reenacted and extended, 7. 
Additional discretionary power in 
making commercial treaties suggested, 
7. 

Agriculture and labor affected by de- 
pression, 7. 

Legislation helpful to producers is 
beneficial to all, 8. 

Restoration of prosperity will take 
time, 8. 

Congressional action needed to restore 
prosperity, 8. 

Ability of the people to meet emer- 
gencies, 8. 

Cause of freedom advanced by Ameri- 
can national life, 8. 
Equality of rights must prevail, 9. 



Lynchings must not be tolerated, 9. 

Purpose of the Republican party re- 
garding trusts will be pursued, 10. 

Natm'alization and immigration laws 

should be further improved, 10. 

Spread of free education should be 

encouraged, 10. 

Reforms in civil service must go on, 

10. 

Spirit of civil-service law will be car- 
ried out, 10. 

Congress should help restore merchant 

marine, 11. 

Foreign policy outlined, 11, 12. 

Arbitration true method of settling 

differences, 12. 

Arbitration treaty with Great Britain 

should be ratifitd, 13. 

Extraordinary stsaion of Congress will 

be convened March 15, '97, 14. 
Independence, Iowa. 

Speech at, Oct. 16, '99. 307. 
Indiana, 256, 260, 208, 332. 

Promptness of response to call for 

volunteers, 141, 143. 
Indianapolis, Indiana. 

Speech at, Oct. 21, '98, 144. 
Indian Territory, 264. 
Industry. 

Application of art to, 23. 

Supplemented by character, 23. 

And character win in every contest, 2.3. 
International Peace Conference, 138, 263. 
Iowa, 86, 97, 99, 264, 301, 303. 306, 310. 

High qualities of its national repre- 
sentatives, 89. 

Readiness to furnish troops, 97. 

Contribution to Spanish War, 108. 

Influence of, on the nation. 111. 
Iowa Agricultural College, 93. 
Iowa Falls, Iowa. 

Speech at, Oct. 16, '99, 301. 
Iowa State Normal School, 304. 
Ipswich, Wisconsin. 

Speech at, Oct. 16, '99, 313. 
Italy, 78, 79. 

o 

Jackson, Andrew, 32. 
Jackson, Thomas J., 104, 369. 
Jackson, Michigan. 

Speech at, Oct. 17, '99, 335. 
Japan. 

Imports of, from United States, 251. 
Jay, John, 73. 

Jefferson, Thomas, 73, 266, 311, 320, 35i. 
Johnson, Andrew, 32. 
Johnston, Joseph E., 369. 
Joliet, Illinois. 

Speech at, Oct. 7, '99, 239. 
Jones, John Paul, 104. 



Kankakee, Illinois. 
Speech at, Oct. 15, '98, 130. 



380 



INDEX. 



Kansas, 264, 266. 
Kenosha, Wisconsin. 

lleniarljs at, Oct. 17, '99, 328. 
Kewanee, Illinois. 

Speech at, Oct. 7, '99, 236. 
King, Charles A., 324. 
Kincr, Rev. Walter, 357. 
King's Mountain, 32. 
Knowledge. 

Aspiration for, is corner-stone for 

learning and liberty, 58. 

No country, epoch, or race has a 

monopoly upon, 168. 
Kokomo, Indiana. 

Speech at, Oct. 21, '98, 140. 



Labor, 240, 256, 258, 272, 327, 332, 342, 

345, 346, 350. 

Effect of depression upon, 7. 

Well employed, beneficial results of, 

29. 

Value of wages should he prote('ted, 

63. 

Now sought by employment, 85, 111, 

118, 142, 236, 239, 256, 326. 

When sought by employer, gets better 

pay than when seeking employment, 

142. 

Interest in cause of, 248. 

Good condition of, in United States, 
, 249. 

Universal demand for, 326. 

Wages have advanced, 362. 
Ladies' Memorial Association, Peoria, 

Illinois, 230. 
Lafayette, Marquis de, 181. 
Lake Preston, South Dakota. 

Speech at, Oct. 14, '99, 290. 
Lanrtis, Charles B., 142. 
La Salle, Illinois. 

Speech at, Oct. 7, '99, 237. 
Laurier, Sir Wilfrid, 253. 
Lawton, Henry W., 180, 198, 305. 
Lee, Richard Henry, 358. 
Lee, Robert E., 39, 104, 230, 253, 353, 

361, 364, 3C9, 370. 
Legislation. 

Helpful to producers is beneficial to 

all, 8. 
Lincoln, Abraham. 16, 17, 21, 127, 130, 

178, 201, 232, 233-235, 238, 239, 277, 

361. 

Purpose to save the Union, 134, 294. 

Followed the people, 124. 

Name of, an inspiration to all lovers 

of liberty, 126. 

Emancipation Proclamation, 281. 

Speech of, at Gettysburg, 361. 
Lincoln and Douglas debates, 130, 233, 

288, 23;\ 

Influence of, in molding public 

opinion, 130. 
Lind, John, 262. 



Livingstone, David, 367. 
Loans. 

Surplus created by, not safe reliance, 5. 

Imperative in emergencies, 6. 
Locomotives. 

Increase in exportation of, 240. 
Lodge, Henry Cabot, 196. 
Logan, John A., 16, 37, 40, 104, 130, 194, 

238, 248. 
Logan, Iowa. 

Remarks at, Oct. 11, '98, 99. 
Logansport, Indiana. 

Speech at, Oct. 21, '98, 139. 
Long, John D., 196, 198. 
Longstreet, James, 104, 369. 
Louisiana, 264. 
Louisiana Purchase, 213, 264, 266, 311. 

Arguments of opponents of, 264-266. 
Lovejoy, Owen, 238. 
Loyal Legion, Washington, D. C. 

Speech at banquet, 360. 
Luzon, 246, 277, 280, 282, 283, 284, 289, 

294, 318, 328, 331, 335, 338, 352. 
Lynchings. 

Must not be tolerated, 9. 

M 

MacArthur, Arthur, 324. 
McCIellan, George B., 369. 
McClernand, John A., 130. 
McCumber, James P., 283. 
Macomb, Illinois. 

Remarks at, Oct. 6, '99, 227. 
Macon, Georgia. 

Speech at, Dec. 19, '98, 178. 
McPherson, James B., 16, 40, 248. 
Madison, James, 73, 354. 
Madison, South Dakota. 

Speech at, Oct. 14, '99, 291. 
Madison, Wisconsin. 

Speech at, Oct. 16, '99, 317. 
Mahoning valley, 342. 
Malvern, Iowa. 

Speech at, Oct. 13, '98, 108. 
Manchester, Iowa. 

Speech at, Oct. 16, '99, 308. 
Manila, 82, 104, 107, 116, 117, 126, 149, 

152, 153, 156, 162, 186, 189, 193, 198, 

202, 214, 225, 246, 254, 279, 287, 295, 
298 333 339 354. 

Manila Bay, battle' of, 126, 139, 175, 189, 

203, 215, 225, 226, 287, 290, 295, 315, 
316, 339, 343. 

Marcy, William L., 320. 

Marines, 152. 
Services of, at Guantanamo com- 
mended, 107. 

Marisca), Ignacio, 253. 

Markets. 
New, required, 61, 110. 
New, good prospect for, 109. 

Mar<iuette Club, Chicago, 241. 
Loyalty and patriotism of, 241. 

Marshal), John, 73, 354. 



INDEX. 



381 



Marshalltown, Iowa. 

Speecli at, Oct. 11, '9S, 91. 
Maryland, 268. 
Masons. 
Reverence of, for name of Washing- 
ton, 355. 

Intt'rest of, in observance of anniver- 
sary of his death, 355. 
Massachusetts, 49, 267. 
Illustrious past, 49. 
Force and influence in the nation. 49. 
The home and fountain of liberty, 196. 
Stands for national credit and na- 
tional honor, 197. 

Fortunate in her educational institu- 
tions, 205. 
Mead, Elizabeth S., 205. 
Meade, George G., 224. 
Memorial and Library Building, Adams, 

Massachusetts, 50. 
Merchant marine, 62, 323. 
Should be restored, 11. 
Immediate development of, advisable, 
252. 
Merchants and Manufacturers' Associ- 
ation, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 323. 
Merrimac, The, lir, 156. 
Merritt, Darwin R., 110. 
Merritt, Wesley, 127 156, 174. 
Mexico, 244, 253. 
Michigan, 336. 
Michigan City, Indiana. 

Remarks at, Oct. 17, '99, 382. 
Miles, Nelson A., 81, 127. 
Miley, John D., 254. 
Milledgeville, Georgia. 

Remarks at, Dec. 19, '98, 180. 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 
Speech at Deutscher Club, Oct. 16, '99, 
322. 

Speech at banquet of Merchants and 
Manufacturers' Association, Oct. 16, 
'99, 323. 

Remarks at the iron foundries, Oct. 17, 
'99, 325. 
Milwaiikee Public Library, 324. 
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 276. 
Address at, Oct. 12, '99, 262. 
Minnesota, 261, 204, 270, 276, 311. 
Mississippi, 266. 
Missouri, 264. 
Missouri Valley, Iowa. 

Speech at, Oct. 11, '98, 99. 
Money, 2. 256, 350. 
Should be put on enduring basis, 3. 
Paper, too many forms, 3. 
Gold and silver, parity between, 4. 
Silver, must be kept at par, 4. 
Duty of government to keep unques- 
tioned and unassailable, 63. 
Sound. 64. 

Circulation July 1, '98, larger than ever 
before, 121. 

Now sufficient for business of govern- 
ment, 127. 



American, honor of, sustained, 127. 
Now so abundant that foreign invest- 
ments are sought, 198. 
Debased, no longer any fear of, 199. 
Abundant antl good, 314. 

Monmouth, Illinois. 
Speech at, Oct. 13, '98, 115, 

Monroe, James, 354. 

3Iontana, 264. 

Montauk Point, New York, Camp Wi- 
koff, 171. 

Introductory remarks of Major-Gen- 
eral Wheeler, U. S. V., 80. 
Speech of the President, 81. 

Montgomery, Alabama. 
Speech to General Assembly and citi- 
zens in State Capitol, Dec. 16, '93, 170. 

Morris, Robert, 76. 

Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, 
Massachusetts, 205. 

Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. 
Speech at, Oct. 16, '99, 316. 

Mount Vernon, Virginia. 
Address at services commemorative 
of death of George Washington, Dec. 
14, '99, 355. 

N 

Nation, The. 

Faith in future of, 66. 

Principles upon which founded, 66. 

Its gratitude to soldiers of Spanish 

War, 80, 82, 88. 

Institutions of, will be preserved, 90. 

Characteristics of, make it equal to 

every task, 106. 

Has much to be thankful for, 109. 

Fortunate in valor of soldiers and 

sailors, 110. 

Duty of, must be determined and car- 
ried out, 115. 

Future of, rests with the people, 129. 

Will care for its disabled soldiers, 15S. 

Strength of, rests in love and loyalty 

of the people, 243, 255. 
National Association of Manufacturers 

of the United States. 

Speech at banquet of. New York, Jan. 

27, '98, 60. 
National Board of Trade, reply to speech 

of delegates from, Jan. 24, 1900, 359. 
National defense fund, 103, 305. 

Impression created by appropriation 

of, 120. 
Naturalization. 

And immigration laws should be fur- 
ther improved, 10. 
Naval militia, 226. 
Navy, 84, So, 96, 103, 116, 126, 135, 139, 

144, 145, 148, 152, 154, 155, 160, 171, 

179, 196, 203, 214, 215, 224, 226, 246, 

318, 324, 333, 336, 350, 352. 
Nebraska, 100, 264. 
Negroes. 

Bravery of, in Spanish War, 126, 127. 



382 



INDEX. 



In Spanish War, vindicated their'title 

to liberty, 127. 

Rapid advance of, in civilization, 

176. 

Valor of, commended, 177. 

Patriotism of, 241. 
Nevada, 266. 

Nevada Cavalry, U. S. V., 215. 
Newark, Ohio. 

Remarks at, Oct. 21, '98, 154. 
New England. 

Civilization of, penetrates every State 

and Territory, 35. 

Its homes established in every part 

of the country, 49. 

Its contributions to good citizenship, 

49. 

New England States, 268. 
New Jersey, 268. 
New London, Connecticut. 

Remarks at, Feb. 16, '99, 184. 
New Mexico, 266. 
New York, N. Y.,202. 

Address at dedication of Grant Monu- 
ment, 16. 

Speech at banquet of National Asso- 
ciation of Manufacturers, Jan. 27, '98, 

60. 

Speech at banquet of Ohio Society of 

New York, March 3, 1900, 361. 

Address at Ecumenical Conference, 

April 21, 1900, 366. 
Nicaragua Canal, 62. 
Nile, The, 351. 
Niles, Michigan. 

Remarks at, Oct. 17, '99, 334. 
Niles, Ohio, 334. 

Remarks at, Oct. 18, '99, 340, 
Noblesville, Indiana. 

Speech at, Oct. 21, '98, 143. 
North, The, 253. 

Should now share with South in care 

of graves of Confederate soldiers, 

159. 
North Adams, Massachusetts. 

Speech at Hoosac Valley Agricultural 

Society Fair, Sept. 22, '97, 48. 
North Carolina, 268. 
North Dakota, 264, 311. 

Admission of, mentioned, 279. 

Rapid progress of, 282. 
Northwestern University, 331. 



Ocean Grove, New Jersey. 

Speech at, Aug. 25, '99, 210. 
Ocean Grove Association, 210. 
Oglesby, Richard J., 130, 238. 
Ohio, 42, 44, 153, 268, 339, 341, 362. 

Its soldiers in Civil War, 43. 

Promptness of response to call for 

volunteers, 153. 
Ohio Society of New York. 

Speech at banquet of, 361. 



Oklahoma, 264, 266. 

Omaha, Nebraska, 86, 96, 100, 106. 
Address at Trans-Mississippi Exposi- 
tion, Oct. 12, '98, 100. 
Remarks on leaving, Oct. 13, '98, 106. 

Oregon, 268. 

Oregon, The, 324. 

Osceola, Iowa. 
Remarks at, Oct. 13, '98, 112. 

Otis, Elwell S., 156, 187, 198, 216, 284. 

Ottawa, Illinois. 
Speech at, Oct. 7. '99, 238. 

Ottumwa, Iowa. 
Speech at, Oct. 13, '98, 114. ^ 

Orford, Ohio. 
Speech at, Oct. 21, '98, 148. 

Oxford College, Oxford, Ohio, 148. 
Prominent men furnished to the pub- 
lic service by, 148. 



Palmer, John M., 130. 

Parcels post, now arranged with Ger- 
many, 251. 

Paris, Illinois. 
Speech at, Oct. 15, '98, 123. 

Parkersburg, Iowa. 
Speech at, Oct. 16, '99, 303. 

Partizansliip. 
Must be subordinated to faithful exe- 
cution of national duty, IGl. 
Can hold few of us against duty, 364. 

Patriotism, 35, 50, 227, 229, 242, 246, 248, 
256, 259, 261, 270, 271, 279, 285, 289, 
298, 303, 310, 315, 321, 322, 324, 328, 
333, 334, 335, 337, 344, 350, 364. 
Great element in the strength of any 
government, 53. 
Never greater than now, 84. 
Superior to party differences, 88, 97, 
117, 141. 

United and enthusiastic in Spanish 
War, 102. 

Must be continued, 110. 
Of school-children, 119. 
Universal throughout the country, 
125, 139. 

Must be faithful as well as fervent, 
135. 

Of citizens, bulwark of the nation, 
172. 

American, neither sectional nor sec- 
tarian, 209. 

The present is an era of, 226. 
Is an all-conquering sentiment in 
American heart, 290. 
Triumphs over mere politics, 290. 

Pauncefote, Sir Julian, 79. 

Peace, 84, 80, 87, 347. 
Need for unity in settlement of, 86, 
94, 95, 90, 98, 100, 105, 109, 110, 112, 
115, 117, 122, 125, 128, 139, 140, 164. 
Terms of, must be in interest of hu- 
manity, 87. 



INDEX. 



383 



Should be humane, honorable, and 

just, 92, 149. 

Is first and indispensable requirement 

in Philippines, 325. 
Peace Commission, 179, 189. 

Final determination of our purposes 

awaits action of, and of Senate, 1.35. 

Will settle extent of our responsibili- 
ties, 135. 
Pensioners. 

Revenue should always be sufficient 

to provide for, 5. 
People. 

A self-governed, will never permit 

despotism in any government which 

they foster and defend, 335. 
People, Tlie, 6, 260, 270, 321, 322, 328, 

329, 333, 336, 343, 360, 364. 

Voice of, more potential than any 

political platform, 7. 

Ability of, to meet emergencies, 8, 93, 

117, 156. 

Destiny of the government in their 

hands, 20. 

Their welfare cherished above party 

or State, 34. 

Their duty in promotion of prosperity 

outlined, 62. 

Ability to meet financial burdens of 

Civil War, 76. 

Future of, depends upon themselves, 

78. 

Entitled to know treatment accorded 

soldiers, 84. 

Will be controlled by high purpose in 

settlement of peace, 84, 87, 90, 129, 

131, 136, 144, 146, 165. 

Must act together in settlement of 

peace, 94, 95, 96, 98, 100, 105, 109, 110, 

112, 115, 117, 122, 125, 128, 139, 140, 

164. 

Never shirk a responsibility and 

never unload a burden that carries 

forward civilization, 87. 

Should not shirk responsibilities of 

Spanish War, 90, 140, 145, 153. 

All power rests with, 91. 

Recipients of profit on bonds of war 

loan, 91. 

Want humane, honorable, and just 

peace, 92, 135. 

High aim and puipose of, 99. 

Opportunities for elevation of, secured 

by wise free government, 101. 

Patriotic in every crisis, 110. 

Patriotism of, 112. 

Sure to be right in their ultimate 

judgment, 113. 

Their duty to new peoples in conse- 
quence of war, 116, 174. 

Must pursue duty, 118, 125, 175. 

Want the victories of army and navy 

recognized in treaty of peace, 123. 

Must settle Spanish War in interest 

of humanity, 128. 



Voice of, is mandate of Ifl-w, 129, 315. 
The currents of destiny flow through 
the hearts of, 131. 

Virtue of, lies at foundation of repub- 
lic, 137. 

Would have the nation help the op- 
pressed people brought by the war 
within the sphere of their influence, 
142. 

Have much to be grateful for, 146. 
Will of, is command to Congress and 
to the Executive, 146. 
United in conduct and settlement of 
Spanish War, 150, 186, 306. 
Brought together by the war, will be 
kept together by its settlement, 165. 
Action of, in settlement of present 
problems must be controlled by duty, 
174. 

Majority of, always on side of right 
and good government, 183. 
Cannot avoid responsibility of na- 
tional problems, ISO. 
Future of PliUippines in their hands, 
191. 

Duty of, to see that Union endures, 
204. 

Always ready to take all the respon- 
sibility which comes from a right- 
eous war, 227. 

Government l)y, has not been retarded, 
but advanced, 245. 
Characteristics of, 259. 
Public aim of, high and noble, 274, 
Government emanates from, 275. 
Masterful in administration and legis- 
lation, 277. 

Judgment of, when constitutionally 
rendered, is law of land, 277. 
Have common interest and pride in 
all that relates to the government, 286. 
Never shirk duty, 288. 
Chief glory of, is in triumphs of peace, 
293. 

Are for the flag wherever it floats, 296. 
Can always be trusted, 298. 
Purpose of, regarding Philippines, 303. 
Interest of, in government, 307. 
Detemiined to keep the American 
name unsullied, 309. 
Duty of, to stand by national honor 
and protect new territory, 338. 
Are doing business on business prin- 
ciples, 350. 

Peoria, Illinois. 
Speech at unveiling of soldiers' monu- 
ment, Oct. 6, '99, 230. 
Remarks upon presentation of an al- 
bum, Oct. 6, '99, 232. 

Pepper, William, 22, 27, 28. 

Philadelphia, 224, 351, 354. 
Address at unveiling of Washington 
Statue, May 15, '97, 19. 
Remarks to American Medical Asso- 
ciation, Jime 2, '97, 22. 



384 



INDEX, 



Speech at banquet of Museums and 

Manufacturers' Clnb, June 2, '97, 27. 

Remarks at School of Industrial Art, 

June 2, '97, 23. 

Address at National Opening of Phila- 
delphia Museums, June 2, '97, 23. 

Hospitality of people, 28. 

Type of American pluck and purpose, 

30. 

Address to officers and students of 

University of Pennsylvania, 67. 

Action of, in creating Philadelphia 

Museums, 26. 

Remarks at Union League banquet, 

Oct. 26, '98, 154. 

Speech at banquet of Clover Club, 

Oct. 27, '98, 155. 

Witnessed earliest consecration of 

liberty to the republic, 155. 

Remarks at dinner of Union League, 

April 27, '99, 200. 

Speech at Academy of Music, April 27, 
'99, 201. 

Remarks on board the U. S. S. Raleigh, 
April 28, '99. 203. 

Speech at G. A. R. encampment, 
Sept. 5, '99, 222. 

Speech at banquet of Meade, Lafay- 
ette, and Kinsley Posts, G. A. R., 
Sept. 5, '99, 224. 
Philadelphia Museums. 
Address at National Opening, 23. 
Aim of, 24. 
Philadelphia Museums and Manufac- 
turers' Club. 

Speech at banquet of, 27. 
Philippine Commission, 225. 
Philippines, 174, 175, 186, 189, 210, 212, 
227, 237, 242, 244, 246, 262, 268, 270, 
276, 277, 278, 279, 284, 287, 290, 295, 
303, 304, 305, 307, 309, 311, 312, 315, 
317, 324, 325, 327, 328, 330, 331, 333, 
336, 339, 342, 370. 

Must not be turned back to Spain, 187. 
Restoration of peace our first consid- 
eration, 189. 

Question of, rests with Congress, 190, 
191. 

Duty of Executive to hold until Con- 
gress shall direct otherwise, 191. 
No flaw in title to, 213. 
No doubtful methods employed to 
obtain, 213. 
Roll of honor, 214, 215. 
Future of, in keeinng of Congress, 269. 
Prolialile nature of government, 269. 
Authority of United States in, will be 
upheld, 282. 

Responsibility of, a result of battle of 
Manila Bay, 287. 

After ratification of treaty, territory 
of the United States as much as any 
other acquisition, 295. 
Views of General Wheeler regarding, 
296. 



Purpose of the United States in re- 
gard to, 306. 

Sovereignty over, belongs to the peo- 
ple, 307. 

Insurrection in, 213, 256, 258, 293, 295, 
318, 330, 335, 336, 338, 340, 345, 352. 
First blow struck by insurgents, 216. 
There will Vie no pause until insurrec- 
tion is suppressed, 216. 
Inception of insurrection, 281. 

Pickering, Timothy, 195. 

Pittsliurg, Pennsylvania. 
Address in Carnegie Library, Nov. 3, 
'97, 56. 

Address before Tenth Pennsylvania 
Regiment, U. S. V., Aug. 28, '99, 211. 

Pittsfleld, Massachusetts. 
Remarks at, Sept. 24, '97, 49. 

Plvmouth Rock, 245. 

Poland, Colonel, 152. 

Polk, James K., 32. 

Ponce, 163. 

Population. 

Increase of, 244. 

Porter, David D., 17, 104, 155. 

Porto Rico, 81, 104, 117, 153, 156, 186, 
210, 212, 268, 287, 295, 306, 317, 319, 
354, 370. 

Powers, The. 
Note of, April 6, '98, 78. 
Reply to. 79. 

President, The, 331. 
Repetition of official oath, 15. 
Aim of, 15, 56, 274. 

Duty of, in regard to the Philippines, 
191, 308. 

Has no policy against will of people, 
325. 

Prcrctor, Red field, 36. 

Proctor, Vermont. 
Remarks at, Aug. 12, '97, 36. 

Progress. 
Necessary to prevent degeneration, 135. 
New life and purpose required to pre- 
vent weakness and decay, 135. 
There must be broadening of thought 
as well as broadening of trade, 135. 
Constant movement required toward 
a higher and nobler civilization, 135. 

Prosperity, 33, 173, 182, 185, 198, 204, 
208, 220, 227, 228, 229, 236, 238, 239, 
248, 250, 256, 258, 261, 271, 272, 282, 
286, 288, 291, 302, 308, 314, 316, 323, 
326, 328, 332, 336, 340, 342, 344, 350, 
359, 360, 362. 

It will take time to restore, 8. 
Action of Congress necessary to res- 
toration, 8. 

Adherence to principles of our gov- 
ernment essential to, 9. 
Commercial and iiulustrial develop- 
ment of, a praiseworthy cause, 24. 
All are interested in, irrespective of 
party, 46, 47. 
Revival of, 61. 



INDEX. 



385 



Restored, 85, 08, 99, 101, 121. 

Evidences of restoratiou, 99, 101, 111, 

118, 141. 
Protection. 

Controlling principle in raising reve- 
nue, 6. 

People's will, 6. 

Legislation should be restored, 7. 
Protocol with Spain, 87, 186. 
Public-school system. 

Advantages of, 45. 

a 

Quincy, Josiah, 185. 
Quincy, Illinois. 

Speech at, Oct. 6, '99, 226. 

Soldiers' Home, 226. 

R 

Racine, Wisconsin. 

Speech at, Oct. 17, '99, 326. 
Railroad employees. 

Patriotism of, commended, 136. 
Railways of United States. 

Growth of, 251. 
Raleigh, The. 

Remarks on board of, 203. 

Its part in the battle of Manila Bay, 

203. 
Reciprocity, 28, 62. 

Principle of law of 1890 should be re- 
enacted and extended, 7. 

Of trade promotes reciprocity of 

friendship, 54. 

Status of contemplated treaties, 251. 

Advantages of, shown by results of 

treaty with France, 251. 
Red Cross. 

Ship bearing flag of, first to enter San- 
tiago harbor after surrender, 107. 
Redfield, South Dakota. 

Speech at, Oct. 14, '99, 286. 
Red Oak, Iowa. 

Speech at, Oct. 13, '98, 109. 
Red Wing, Minnesota. 

Remarks at, Oct. 12, '99, 261. 
Responsibilities. 

International, cannot be shirked, 102. 

International, must be met with cour- 
age and wisdom, 102. 
Revenue, 350. 

Should exceed expenditures, 5. 

Should be sufficient to provide for 

pensioners, 5. 

Daily amount of, 257, 292, 345. 

Now abundant, 302. 
Revolutionary War, 259, 287, 352. 

Not undertaken originally for inde- 
pendence, 134. 
Richmond, Virginia. 

Remarks at station, Oct. 31, '99, 349. 

Speech at, Oct. 31, '99, 349. 

Contributions of, to navy, 350. 



RoUer, 0. B., 204. 
Roosevelt, Theodore, 198. 
Root, Elihu, 225. 
Rosecrans, William S., 43. 
Rough Paders, 89. 
Rushville, Indiana. 

Speech at, Oct. 21, '98, 146. 
Russia, 78, 79, 351. 

Czar of, 138, 263. 



St. Louis, Missouri. 

Speech at Merchants' Exchange, Oct. 

14, '98, 117. 

Speech in Coliseum, Oct. 14, '98, 119. 
St. Paul, Minnesota. 

Speech at Auditorium, Oct. 12, '99, 269. 
St. Thomas, Island of, 268. 
Sampson, W. T., 107, 127, 225. 
San Juan hiU, 80, 107, 116, 127, 149, 152, 

178, 246. 

Santiago, 80, 104, 107, 116, 126, 131, 152, 
156, 162, l(i3, 171, 186, 202, 206, 219, 221, 
246, 2.-4, 295, 315, 317, 350, 354. 

Savannah, Georgia. 
Speech at Board of Trade banquet, 
De Soto Hotel, Dec. 17, '98, 172. 
Speech at Georgia Agricultural and 
Mechanical College, Dec. 18, '98, 176. 

School of Industrial Art, Philadelphia. 
Remarks at, 23. 

School-children, 45, 228, 231, 272, 278, 
308, 321, 332, 341. 

Must succeed to responsibilities of 
government, 113, 120. 
Patriotism of, 119. 

Schurman, J. G., 225. 

Second Massachusetts Regiment, U.S. V., 
206. 

Second Oregon Regiment, U. S. V., 215. 

Sectional lines. 
Obliterated, 15, 33, 39, 43, 50, 51, 85, 
88, 95, 98, 103, 108, 117, 118, 121, 123, 
125, 140, 141, 143, 160, 165, 171, 173, 

179, 180, 182, 1S3, 197, 203, 204, 223, 
229, 24(i, 253, 255, 299, 304, 305, 310, 
313, 348, 349, 353, 361, 364. 
Transcended by fraternal national 
spiiit, 18. 

No longer mar the map of the United 
States, 158. 

Senate, The, 72, 195, 346. 
Action of, following action of Peace 
Commission, will determine our pur- 
poses, 135. 

Seventeenth Regiment United States 
Infantry, 152. 

Sevier, John, 32. 

Seward, William H., 320. 

Shatter, William R., 107, 116, 127, 179. 

Shaw, L. M., 86. 
His reply to call for troops, 97. 

Sheridan, P. H ., 16, 40, 104, 155, 194, 
224, 369. 



386 



INDEX. 



Sherman, Roger, 73. 

Sherman, W. T., 16, 40, 104, 155, 194, 

224, 248, 369. 
Shiloh, 202. 

Ship-building, increase of, 252. 
Shubrick, The. 

Launching of, 349. 
Silver money. 
Parity between gold and, 4. 
Must be kept at par, 4. 
Sioux City, Iowa. 
Remarks at Whitfield Methodist Epis- 
copal Sunday-school, Oct. 15, '99, 301. 
Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 

Speech at, Oct. 14, '99, 294. 
Slavery, 239, 294. 

End of, unforeseen, 41. 
Smith College, 205. 
Society of the Cincinnati. 
Address at unveiling of Washington 
Statue by, 19. 
Somerset, Pennsylvania. 
Remarks to Lincoln Club, Sept. 9, '97, 
47. 

Remarks at reception of R. P. Cum- 
mins Post, G. A. R., Sept. 10, '97, 48. 
South, The, 253. 
Loyalty of, to the Union and the flag, 
shown by Spanish War, 159. 
Prosperity of, 351. 
South Carolina, 268. 
South Dakota, 264, 284, 288, 298, 311. 
South Hadley, Massachusetts. 
Speech at Mount Holyoke College, 
June 20, '99, 205. 
Spain, 78, 79, 83, 187, 188, 213, 216, 259, 
295. 

Treaty of peace with, 179, 190, 197, 
268, 280, 284, 295, 307, 318, 330, 339, 
346, 364. 
Spanish War, 89, 96, 102, 110, 114, 116, 
120, 125, 130, 160, 171, 173, 179, 182, 
185, 190, 194, 199, 202, 215, 218, 221, 
228, 229, 242, 246, 248, 254, 276, 289, 
295, 303, 305, 310, 316, 318, 324, 335, 
339, 343, 345, 352, 363. 
Soldiers of, gratitude of nation to, 80, 
81, 88. 

Soldiers of, commendation of, 81, 82. 
Conduct of, 83, 84. 
Display of humanity, 89, 107, 108. 
Conclusion of, should be triumph for 
humanity, 90, 145. 
Outcome of, 90, 149. 
Veterans of, 92, 155, 194, 226, 257, 272, 
283, 285. 

Enlistment of students, 93. 
Duty imposed by, 100, 133. 
Matchless in its results, 103. 
Not sought by the United States, 105, 
128, 135, 151. 

Heroism displayed in, 107. 
Country united in conduct of, 108, 
150. 
Brilliant in victory, 129. 



War 01 humanity, 131, 134, 140, 145, 

147, 151, 165, 295, 315, 319. 

Results of, not foreseen, 133. 

Obligations of victory cannot be es- 
caped, 133, 145. 

Briefness and success of, cause for 

thankfulness, 146. 

Terms extended to the vanquished, 

147. 

Eulogy of dead heroes, 152. 

Short but decisive, 165. 

Promptness of enlistment for, has few 

parallels, 279. 

Every effort made to avert it, 287. 

Those who sought it most are now 

trying to shirk its responsibilities, 186, 

319. 

Results of, are nation's problem, 363. 

Loan, 314. 

Loan, over-subscription of, HI, 120, 

292. 
Springfield, Illinois. 

Speech at, Oct. 15, '98, 126. 
Springfield, Massachusetts. 

Speech at, June 21, '99, 206. 
Stanard, E. O., 359. 
Stanton, Edwin M., 16. 
Staples, Minnesota. 

Remarks at, Oct. 13, '99, 276. 
Statesmanship. 

Must be wise as well as fearless, 135. 

Should be far-sighted, 135. 
Strong, Rev. Nathan, 357. 
Summers, Owen, 262. 
Sumner, Charles, 195. 
Sumter, Fort, 234. 
Superior, Wisconsin. 

Speech at, Oct. 13, "99, 271. 
Surplus, 120, 129, 292, 345, 362. 

Created by loans, not safe reliance, 5. 
Syracuse, New York. 

Speech at, Aug. 24, '97, 36. 

T 

Tama, Iowa. 

Speech at, Oct. 11, '98, 90. 
Tanner, John R., 126. 
Tariff, 29, 258, 345. 

Discussion of, has ceased, 198. 

(See Taxation.) 
Taxation, 345. 

To raise income, best way, 6. 

Of imports, settled policy of govern- 
ment, 6. 

Direct, avoided except in war, 6. 

Internal, country opposed to needless 

additions, 6. 

Taiiff, country committed to by lat- 
est popular utterance, 6. 

Tariff, controlling principle of, 6. 

Spanish War, borne with patriotism, 

121, 127. 
Tayler, R. W., 219. 
Taylor, John N., 218. 



INDEX. 



387 



Taylor, Richard M., 349. 
Tennessee, 30. 

Characteristics of, 31, 32. 

Origin of, 31, 32. 

Progress of, 33. 

" Mother of Southwestern statesmen," 

32. 
Tennessee Centennial Exposition, Nash- 
ville. 

Address at, June 11, '97, 30. 
Tenth Pennsylvania Regiment, U. S. V., 

211, 215. 
Terre Haute, Indiana, 139. 

Speech at, Oct. 15, '98, 122. 

Speech at, Oct. 11, '99, 256. 
Territory. 

Acquisition of, 114. 

Of United States. (See United States.) 

Increase of, 244, 2G4. 

President hasuo power to alienate,319. 
Texas, 213. 

Cessi<in of, 266. 
Texas, The, 350. 
Thirteenth Minnesota Regiment,U.S.V., 

215, 261, 202, 270, 276, 277. 
Thomas, George H., 16, 40. 
Thompson, Richard W., 122, 257. 
Thi'ee Oaks, Michigan. 

Remarks at, Oct. 17, '99, 333. 
Tin-plate, 240, 258. 

Now a successful industry in the 

United States, 142. 

Has given employment to many work- 
ing-men, 142. 
Tipton, Indiana. 

Speech at, Oct. 21, '98, 141. 
Trade. 

Follows the flag, 109. 
Trans-Mississippi Exposition, 86, 101, 

107. 
Treasury, The, 258, 292, 315, 336, 345, 

362. 

Creation of, 76. 

Its condition after half a century, 76. 

Balance Oct. 1, '98, 120. 
Treaties. 

Commercial, additional discretionary 

power in making, suggested, 7. 
Trumbull, Jonathan, 73. 
Trusts, 10. 

Purpose of the Republican party re- 
garding, will be pui'sued, 10. 
Tiiskesree, Alabama. 

Speech at, Dec. 16, '98, 166. 
Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Insti- 
tute. 

Ideal in conception, 166. 

Policy of, generous and progressive, 

167. 

Practical nature of, 168. 

Of inestimable value in sowing seeds 

of good citizenship, 168. 

Advice to students, 169, 170. 
Twentieth Kansas Regiment, U. S. V., 

215. 



Twenty-third Ohio Regiment. 

Speech at reunion, Fremont, Ohio, 

Sept. 2, '97, 42. 
Tyler, J. Hoge, 348. 



Union, The, 38, 41, 51, 66, 126, 245, 253, 

294, 305, 346, 354, 360. 

Stronger and better than ever before, 

50. 

And people inseparable under our 

system, 53. 

Complete restoration of, most gi-atify- 

ing development of Spanish War, 88. 

Once more the common altar of love 

and loyalty, devotion and sacrifice, 

158. 

Union League, Philadelphia, 200. 

United States, 63, 69, 71, 72, 346. 
Normal condition of, peace, 102. 
Seal of, its meaning, 243. 
Has never repudiated a national ob- 
ligation, 245. 

Has never struck a blow except for 
civilization, 245. 
Has never struck its colors, 245. 
Progress of, 308. 

Never raised its arm against human- 
ity; never struck a blow against lib- 
erty, 309. 

Territory of, 114, 115, 134, 151, 153, 162, 
174, 181, 188, 214, 237, 244, 264-269, 287, 

295, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 311, 318, 
320, 321, 330, 333, 336, 339, 343, 346, 366. 

University of Pennsylvania. 
Address to olHcers and students, Feb. 
22. '98, 67. 

Its association with name of Wash- 
ington, 67, 68. 

University of Wisconsin, 320. 

Utah, 266. 

Utah Artillery, U. S. V., 215. 



Vermilion, South Dakota. 
Remarks at, Oct. 14, '99, 300. 

Vermont, 35. 

Vermont Fish and Game League, Isle 
La Motte. 
Speech at, Aug. 6, '97, 35. 

Vicksburg, 202. 

Vincennes, Indiana. 
Speech at, Oct. 11, '99, 255. 

Vinci, Count, 79. 

Virginia, 265, 268, 348, 351. 

Volunteer Signal Corps, First, Eigh- 
teenth, and Nineteenth companies, 
215. 

Voorhees, Daniel W., 123. 

W 

Wadena, Minnesota. 
Speech at, Oct. 13, '09, 277. 



388 



INDEX. 



Wahpeton, North Dakota. 

Speech at, Oct. 13, '99, 282. 
War Department. 

Commission appointed to investigate 

administration of, remarks to, 83. 

Charges against, 83, 84. 
Warner, Vespasian, 128. 
Warren, Ohio. 

Speech at, Oct. 18, '99, 338. 
Washinijton, Booker T., 166. 
Washiuiton, George, 17, 19-21, 37, 67-78, 

104, 181, 352, 361. 

Present value of portions of Farewell 

Address, 73. 

" Cherish the public credit," 76. 

Ideas of, regarding foreign policy, 77. 

Address at services commemorative 

of death of, 355. 
Washington, D. C. 

Inaugural Address, 2. 

Note of Powers and reply, 78-80. 

Remarks to commission appointed to 

investigate administration of War De- 
partment, Sept. 26, '98, 83. 

Remarks to First District of Columbia 

Regiment, at Convention Hall, Nov. 

17, '98, 157. 

Response to committee presenting 

petition urging mediation in Boer 

War, Oct. 26, '99, 347. 

Site of, selected by Washington, 356. 

Reply to delegates from National 

Board of Trade, Jan. 24, 1900, 359. 

Speech at banquet of Loyal Legion, 

Feb. 22, 1900, 360. 
Washington, State of, 268. 
Washington Conrt-House, Ohio. 

Remarks at, Oct. 21, "98, 150. 
Washington Statue. Philadelphia. 

Address at unveiling, 19. 
Waterloo, Iowa. 

Speech at, Oct. 16, '99, 305. 
Watseka, Illinois. 

Speech at, Oct. 11, '99, 260. 
Waukegan, Illinois. 

Speech at, Oct. 17, '99, 329. 
Waukesha, Wisconsin. 
Speech at, Oct. 16, '99, 321. 



Webster, Daniel, 181, 195. 
West, The, 266. 

Despair no longer hangs over, 107. 

Now having fair share of prosperity, 

107. 

Patriotism of, 107. 

Vastness and wealth of, 110. 

Evidences of prosperity of, 110. 
Western Reserve, 339. 
West Indies, 315, 324. 
Wheeler, Miss, 171. 
Wheeler, Joseph, 95, 171, 178, 180, 181, 

297, 305. 

Introductory remarks at Montauk 

Point, 81. 

Views of, regarding Philippines, 296. 
Whitfield Methodist Episcopal Sunday- 
school, Sioux City, Iowa, 301. 
Wight, John B., 157. 
Wilmington, Ohio. 

Remarks at, Oct. 21, '98, 150. 
Wilson, Henry, 195. 
Wilson, James, 90, 225. 
Wilson, James H., 180. 
Winthrop, Robert C, 195. 
Wisconsin, 324. 
Wollant, Gr. de, 79. 
Women. 

Nobility displayed in time of war, 88. 

Government's debt of gratitude to, 88. 
Wood, Leonard, 198. 

" Don't swear ; fight," 90. 
World's Columbian Exposition, 25. 
Wright, R. R., 176. 
Wyoming, 264, 266. 
Wyoming Battery, U. S. V., 215. 



Yankton, South Dakota. 

Speech at, Oct. 14, '99, 298. 
Yorktown, surrender of CornwaUis at, 

352. 
Youngstown, Ohio. 

Speech at, Oct. 18, '99, 341. 

Speech at public reception, Oct. 18, 

'99, 344. 



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